THE  BUSINESS  HEN 


3y  -  Herbert  1/.  Collingwood 


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NORTH  CAROLINA  STATE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 


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[A  New  Brood] 


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THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  DATE 
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THE    RURAL 


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THE  BUSINESS  HEN 

{A  NEW  BROOD) 


HERBERT  W.   COLLINGWOOD 

EDITOR 


PROF.  JAMES  E. 
MISS  F.  E.  WHE 
W.  W.  HIGGINS 
J.  E.  STEVENSOI' 
PROF.  G.  M.  GO 
A 


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THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THEDATE 
INDICATED  BELOW  AND  IS  SUB- 
JECT TO  AN  OVERDUE  FINE  AS 
POSTED  AT  THE  CIRCULATION 
DESK. 


THE  F 


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Copyright,  1904 
By  The  Rural  Publishing  Co. 

Alt  righti  rtstrvgd 


INTRODUCTION 


During  the  past  ten  years  The  Rural  New  Yorker  has  given  much 
space  to  poultry  matters.  It  was  necessary  to  do  this  in  order  to  answer 
the  thousands  of  questions  asked  by  readers.  These  questions  were  from 
practical  men  and  women — not  fanciers — who  asked  how  to  obtain  a  good 
hen,  and  how  to  feed  and  care  for  her  in  a  business-like  way.  In  order 
to  answer  these  questions  we  found  it  necessary  to  scour  the  country  from 
one  end  to  the  other  and  to  obtain  help  from  hundreds  of  practical  poul- 
try keepers.  We  find  that  from  year  to  year  many  of  these  questions 
are  repeated — by  new  readers  or  by  those  who  have  mislaid  their  papers. 
This  has  led  us  to  prepare  this  book,  for  it  is  evident  that  the  informa- 
tion will  be  far  more  accessible  in  book  form.  These  thousands  of 
questions  were  grouped  and  analyzed.  We  then  went  to  the  most  practi- 
cal poultry  keepers  for  information.  The  vast  amount  of  information  thus 
obtained  has  been  sorted,  cut  down  and  rewritten  to  fit  into  this  book. 
There  are  of  course  many  details  which  cannot  be  crowded  into  these 
pages.  New  conditions  are  constantly  arising,  and  the  most  expert 
poultry  keepers  are  often  puzzled  by  things  which  they  cannot  under- 
stand. We  must  all  know  also  that  many  of  the  most  important  things 
can  only  be  taught  by  experience.  Any  reader  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  is  welcome 
to  ask  for  further  information.  We  can  obtain  it  for  him,  and  in  this 
way  supply  all  the  details  which  he  may  need.  We  have  avoided  all 
reference  to  "big  stories"  or  fancy  operations,  and  attempted  to  give  a 
statement  of  methods  which  practical  men  have  found  safe  and  useful. 
While  hundreds  of  men  and  women  have  helped  with  experience  and  ad- 
vice, I  wish  to  express  special  thanks  to  Prof.  James  E.  Rice,  who  pre- 
pared the  chapter  on  "What  is  an  Egg"  and  "Marketing  the  Egg"  and  to 
Dr.  Cooper  Curtice,  who  wrote  the  article  on  "Health  of  the  Hen." 

H.  w. 


■sis2m 


CONTENTS 


PAGE. 

Chapter  I The  Business  Breeds 5 

Chapter   II The  Scrub  Hen  Turned  to  Ijusiness 10 

Chapter   III Parents  of  the  Egg 13 

Chapter    IV What  is  an  Egg? 18 

Chapter   V Hatching  the  Egg 29 

Chapter    VI The  Chicken's  Nurse 36 

Chapter    VII Care  of  the  Baby  Chick 40 

Chapter  VIII The  Young  Bird 45 

Chapter    IX The  Hen's  House 49 

Chapter    X Feeding  the  Hen 58 

Chapter    XI The  Colony  Plan G8 

Chapter  XII The  Market  Gardener's  Hens 73 

Chapter  XIII The  Boy's  Hens 77 

Chapter   XIV Marketing  Poultry   Products 83 

Chapter  XV Marketing  Eggs 88 

Chapter   XVI Companions  of  the  Hen 93 

Chapter   XVII The  Health  of  the  Hen 98 

Chapter   XVIII. . .  . Purebred   Poultry Ill 

Chapter   XIX Who  Should  Keep  Hens? 113 

Chapter  XX Odds  and  Ends 120 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  Business  Breeds. 

To  succeed  with  poultry,  a  man  must  be  "half  hen."  That 
means  that  he  must  love  the  business  and  understand  the  hen.  Such 
a  man  naturally  likes  the  breed  best  adapted  to  his  business.  There 
are  different  kinds  of  men  and  thus  there  are  different  breeds  of 
poultry,  each  one 
best  fitted  for  some  spe- 
cial purpose.  The  key- 
note of  this  book  is  the 
fact  that  no  man  can  sup- 
ply another  with  that 
element  known  as  good 
judgment.  We  try  to 
give  here  facts  about 
poultry.  The  reader  is 
urged  to  apply  them, 
and  learn  for  himself 
what  will  suit  him  best. 
Business  hens  may  be 
roughly  classed  under 
three  heads, — Mediter- 
ranean, or  non-sitters ; 
American,  or  general- 
purpose  breeds  which 
have  been  obtained  by 
crossing;  arid  Asiatics, 
or  meat-p  r  o  d  u  c  i  n 
breeds.  Briefly  stated, 
their  business  qualities 
may  be  described  about 
as   follows : 

MEDITERRANEAN  OR  NON-SITTERS.— The  Leghorn  is  the 
best  example  of  this  class ;  a  small,  nervous  hen  with  a  very  large 
comb.  The  Leghorn,  without  doubt,  is  the  best  breed  for  those  who 
want  an  abundance  of  large,  white  eggs,  or  those  who  want  a  small  flock 
for  a  small  enclosure.  With  us  the  Black  Minorca  lays  a  larger  white 
egg,  but  is  more  tender,  not  as  hardy  as  the  Leghorn,  and  requires  more 
feed,  though  standing  confinement  better.     The  Brown  Leghorn  is  smaller 


Fig.  1.  PUREBRED  WHITE  LEGHORNS. 


Library 
N.  C,  State  Coile^re 


The   Business  Hen. 


than  the  White,  and  lays  a  smaller  egg,  except  some  families  which  have 
been  bred  for  large  eggs.  The  Brown  is  thought  to  be  hardier  than  the 
White,  and  with  us  seems  to  stand  confinement  better,  and  on  the  whole 
will  lay  a  few  more  eggs.  The  Brown  Leghorn,  however,  is  more  difficult 
to  breed  true  to  color,  and  makes  a  poorer  carcass  when  dressed.  The  ob- 
jections to  Leghorns  are  the  small  size  of  some  families,  the  large  comb, 
which  makes  them  tender  in  Winter,  and  to  some  extent  the  fact  that 
the  hens  rarely  sit,  so  that  incubators  must  be  used.  The  White  Leghorns 
make  good  broilers,  but  are  too  small  to  make  the  size  of  poultry  known 
as  roasters.  A  prominent  breeder  of  Leghorns,  speaking  of  the  profit  to  be 
made  in  young  White  Leghorn  roosters,  says: 

"In  eight  weeks  I  can  make  these  birds  weigh  3i/^  pounds  per  pair. 
They  look  like  a  squab  and  bring  $1.50  per  pair.  They  make  a  more 
attractive  broiler,  are  meaty  and  of  high  quality.  It  takes  the  heavier 
breeds  longer  to  mature;  it  costs  nearly  twice  as  much  to  house  them, 
and  fully  double  as  much  to  feed  them."  One  argument  in  favor  of  Leg- 
horns, for  town  lots,  is  that  they  occupy  less  space  in  houses.  A  house 
that  will  comfortably  house  40  Leghorns  would  be  small  for  25  Brahmas,  or 
30  Plymouth  Rocks,  while  eggs  are  the  cfiief  consideration  for  town 
poultry.  As  a  rule  eggs  from  the  Leghorns  are  more  fertile  than  those 
from  larger  breeds.  The  young  Leghorn  hen  shown  at  Fig.  1  laid  a  clutch 
of  eggs  and  hatched  them  before  she  was  five  months  old. 

AMERICAN    BREEDS.— This    class    includes    such    breeds    as    Ply- 

mouth  Rocks, 
Wyandottes  and 
Rhode  Island  Reds, 
produced  by  crossing 
older  breeds  and 
selecting  birds  true 
to  a  fixed  type 
through  a  number  of 
years.  For  example, 
the  Plymouth  Rock 
resulted  from  cross- 
ing the  Dominique 
and  the  Java  with  the 
Brahmas.  It  is  also 
stated  that  the  Pit 
Games  were  used  to 
produce  this  breed. 
The  Wyandotte  came 
from  a  non-sitting 
^iG.  2.     A  237-EGG  PLYMOUTH  ROCK.  breed  on  one  side,  and 


The   Business   Breeds. 


Fig.  3.      A  GOOD  WHITE  WYANDOTTE. 


ought  therefore  to 
average  better  lay- 
ers. These  Ameri- 
can breeds  have  the 
same  general  fea- 
tures, plump,  well- 
shaped  bodies, 
clean,  yellow  tegs, 
and  a  yellow  skin. 
The  English  Or- 
pington is  much  the 
same  general  type, 
but  has  not  yellow 
skin.  This  yellow 
color  is  important, 
as  the  American 
market  calls  for  yel- 
low    meat.       These 

American  breeds  not  only  lay  well,  but  also  furnish  a  good  carcass  of  sala- 
ble meat.  They  are  larger  than  the  Leghorns,  consume  rather  more  feed, 
and  do  not  as  a  rule  lay  as  many  eggs.  The  eggs  of  the  American  breeds 
are  brown  in  color,  and  generally  not  as  large  as  those  from  the  White 
Leghorns.  While  brown  eggs  are  preferred  in  some  markets,  such  as  Boston 
and  other  New  England  cities,  the  general  demand  is  for  white  eggs.  For 
farm  stock  where  the  flock  is  kept  to  supply  meat  and  eggs  for  the  farm, 
with  a  surplus  of  each  to  sell,  one  of  the  American  breeds  will  prove 
very  satisfactory.  They  may  be  compared  with  the  general-purpose  cow, 
while  the  Leghorn  represents  the  special-purpose  Jersey.  Both  the  Ply- 
mouth Rock  and  Wyandotte  are  bred  in  different  colors,  but  the  color 
adds  little  of  value  to  the  breed  except  the  pleasing  effect  to  the  eye. 
The  Barred  Plymouth  Rock  is  one  of  the  strongest  and  hardiest  of  breeds, 
but  the  White  of  both  Plymouth  Rock  and  Wyandotte  are  more  popular. 
Some  years  ago  the  flocks  in  farmers'  yards  were  largely  speckled,  but 
now  a  large  proportion  of  them  will  be  found  white.  Why  is  one  Ameri- 
can breed  better  than  another?  The  answer  will  be  largely  a  matter  of 
opinion.  A  Plymouth  Rock  breeder,  when  asked  why  he  prefers  that 
breed  to  Wyandottes,  gives  the  following  answer : 

"I  do  not  consider  there  is  much  difference  between  the  Wyandottes 
and  the  Plymouth  Rocks,  at  least  not  a  contrast  as  exists  between  either 
one  of  the  above  and  the  Leghorn,  or  such  as  is  between  the  Leghorn 
and  Cochin.  I  think  which  one  a  person  prefers — Wyandotte  or  Plymouth 
Rock — is  much  a  matter  of  fancy,  but  I  consider  that  there  are  these 
differences :     First,  the   Plymouth  Rock  equals  them  as  layers,  but  sur- 


8  The   Business  Hen. 

passes  them  in  color  and  size  of  egg.  Second,  the  Plymouth  Rock  equals 
or  excels  the  Wyandotte  as  a  table  fowl,  and  surpasses  it  in  weight.  The 
latter  point  I  consider  the  strongest.  Anyone  raising  poultry  for  market, 
and  especially  farmers,  1  think  should  have  the  heaviest  fowls,  provided 
they  are  good  layers.  Good  laying  and  large  size  are  best  combined,  1 
think,  in  the  Plymouth  Rocks."  The  picture  of  a  serviceable  Barred  Ply- 
mouth Rock  hen  is  shown  at  Fig.  2.  This  hen  is  known  to  have  laid 
237  eggs  during  her  first  year. 

A  Wyandotte  breeder,  in  reply,  makes  these  claims :  "White  Wyan- 
dottes  are  smaller  birds,  maturing  quicker,  commencing  to  lay  two  or 
four  weeks  earlier  than  the  Plymouth  Rocks.  I  am  aware  that  this  will 
be  disputed  by  Plymouth  Rock  breeders,  especially  those  with  flocks 
below  standard  size,  and  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  Rocks  of  Wyandotte 
size  may  lay  as  quickly.  The  White  Wyandottes  when  dressed  for  market 
have  no  dark  pin  feathers,  but  show  a  clear  yellow  skin,  while  the  Ply- 
mouth Rock  chicks  have  a  mottled  appearance,  owing  to  the  coloring 
matter  in  the  pin  feathers.  The  Wyandottes  do  not  have  so  deep  a  breast 
bone,  consequently  are  rounder  breasted  and  have  a  meatier  look  than 
the  P.  Rock  chicks  of  the  same  age.  The  larger  the  breed  is  the  longer 
it  takes  to  reach  the  egg-laying  stage,  and  in  selecting  a  breed  of  fowls  a 
man  must  determine  whether  a  month's  earlier  production  of  eggs  in 
November  or  December  isn't  worth  more  than  an  additional  pound  ol 
meat,  which  by  the  way  cannot  be  produced  for  nothing,  but  must  be  paid 
for  in  feed.  Another  point  in  favor  of  the  Wyandottes  is  uniformity  of 
color,  without  the  trouble  of  special  matings  for  cockerels  and  for  pullets, 
which  are  necessary  to  obtain  uniformity  in  breeding  Barred  Rocks. 
This  objection  does  not  obtain  as  against  White  Plymouth  Rocks,  of 
course,  but  all  the  other  objections  hold.  Another  factor  in  determining 
me  to  change  breeds  was  that  my  Wyandottes  seemed  to  be  much  better 
layers.  Against  the  Wyandottes  was  the  fact  that  in  muddy  seasons  the 
plumage  would  get  badly  soiled,  giving  the  flock  a  dirty  appearance,  not 
noticed  in  Barred  Plymouth  Rocks.  As  layers  the  White  Wyandottes 
are  not  excelled  by  any  other  breed  except  possibly  the  Leghorns,  and  in 
Winter  months,  under  similar  conditions,  I  think  they  will  surpass  the 
Leghorns."  The  White  Wyandotte  shown  at  Fig.  3  laid  219  eggs  in 
her  first  season,  and  kept  up  her  record  later. 

THE  ASIATICS.— The  Light  Brahma  is  the  most  popular  type  of  this 
class,  a  large,  slow,  well-feathered  and  well-shaped  bird,  quiet  in  disposi- 
tion, laving  a  fair  number  of  dark  brown  eggs.  The  legs  are  well  feathered, 
the  comb  small,  and  the  hens  seem  well  dressed  in  fur  for  Winter  work. 
The  Brahmas  and  Cochins  are  docile  and  stand  confinement  well,  but 
they  fatten  readily,  and  it  is  harder  to  keep  them  free  from  vermin  than 
the  lighter  and  thinner-feathered  breeds.     The  feathers   on   the  legs   are 


The    Business   Breeds.  ^ 

objectionable  in  damp  or  muddy  situations.  We  are  more  likely  to  over- 
feed the  larger  breeds,  and  make  them  too  fat  for  good  layers.  The  good 
points  of  the  Brahma  are  fairly  stated  by  a  leading  poultryman  as  follows : 

"The  Light  Brahma  is  a  very  tame  breed;  will  bear  close  confinement 
and  do  well.  They  may  be  kept  in  a  yard  with  a  fence  three  feet  high, 
made  of  wire  netting.  The  chicks  will  grow  very  fast;  at  the  age  of  six 
months  they  will  weigh  seven  pounds,  and  will  bring  the  highest  market 
price,  because  they  have  nice  yellow  meat  and  are  well  fattened.  I  sold 
my  chickens  last  Fall,  and  they  brought  me  18  cents  per  pound  dressed. 
I  can  fatten  them  up  quicker  than  the  lighter  breeds.  They  are  just  thfe 
breed  for  the  city.  They  are  one  of  the  oldest  breeds,  and  have  come  to 
stay.  They  are  good  layers  for  Winter  and  Summer,  good  sitters  and 
mothers.  For  an  all-'round  breed  they  cannot  be  beaten.  My  objection 
to  the  smaller  breeds  is  that  I  live  in  a  village  and  have  not  the 
room.  Any  one  who  has  little  room  ought  not  to  keep  Leghorns  or  the 
like.  They  need  more  run,  and  more  run  means  more  feed.  A  breed 
that  does  not  run  requires  less  feed,  and  that  is  the  light  Brahma." 

The  Cochins  and  Brahmas  have  yellow  legs  and  skin,  while  Langshans, 
another  Asiatic  breed,  have  dark  legs  and  white  skin.  There  are  many 
other  excellent  breeds,  such  as  Polish,  Hamburg,  Orpingtons,  Redcaps, 
Javas,  Houdans  and  others.  Some  of  them  are  profitable  in  the  hands 
of  breeders  who  know  and  love  them,  but  we  do  not  class  them  here  as 
business  hens.  The  Orpingtons  are  said  to  represent  a  cross  between 
the  Langshans  and  the  Minorcas.  They  are  classed  as  excellent  layers 
and  are  gaining  in  popularity.  They  lack  the  yellow  skin  which  is  a 
strong  feature  of  the  American  breeds.  The  Dorkings  are  large  birds, 
fair  layers,  and  good  mothers,  perhaps  the  first  of  all  table  fowls,  but 
not  as  hardy  as  others.  The  Games  are  active  birds,  and  while  of  littk 
value  for  business,  when  bred  pure  are  often  useful  to  cross  with  other 
breeds,  especially  when  the  birds  are  to  run  at  large  on  a  farm.  The  half- 
bred  Games  make  good  foragers  and  fair  layers,  and  are  able  to  defend 
themselves  against  vermin  .  A  half-bred  Game  hen  has  been  known  to  fly 
into  the  air  and  fight  with  a  hawk  in  defense  of  her  chicks.  It  is  often 
asked  if  the  new  colors  which  are  constantly  appearing  in  all  breeds  add 
anything  of  practical  value.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
color  of  the  plumage  of  any  of  the  varieties  (or  strains),  of  the  several 
breeds  that  indicate  superiority.  The  color  is  barely  skin  deep.  Each 
variety  has  its  admirers,  and  each  is  claimed  as  something  better  than  the 
others.  We  have  not  found  color  to  add  merit  to  a  breed,  and  the  only 
difference  between  varieties  of  the  same  breed  is  that  the  colors  are  not 
alike.  Breeds  that  are  not  very  numerous  are  sometimes  lacking  in  hardi- 
ness by  reason  of  being  inbred,  but  this  applies  only  to  Javas,  Dorkings, 
Polish,  Hamburgs,  Redcaps,  etc. 


CHAPTER  II. 
The  Scrub  Hen  Turned  to  Business. 

By  "scrub"  is  meant  the  hen  that  runs  in  the  barnyard,  roosts  in  a 
tree  in  Summer,  and  either  in  the  barn  or  in  some  broken  henhouse  in 
Winter.  She  is  usually  of  no  particular  breed.  She  leaves  her  mark  over 
the  machinery,  scratches  up  the  garden,  when  there  is  any,  and  keeps  busy 
generally.  She  is  not  fed  regularly.  Sometimes  the  farmer  throws  out 
a  little  corn,  or  the  women  save  some  table  scraps  from  dog  or  cat,  but 
the  hen  lives  for  the  most  part  on  what  she  can  pick  up  around  the  barn 
and  yard ;  clover  chaff,  grain  dropped  by  the  stock,  anything  that  her  sharp 
eyes  can  find.  In  Summer,  when  insects  abound,  the  scrub  hen  balances 
her  ration  better  than  a  chemist  could  do  it  for  her.  A  grain  of  corn,  a 
bug,  a  blade  of  grass,  a  nip  out  of  a  ripe  tomato,  a  worm  or  a  bit  of 
ground  feed  that  the  horse  dropped  out  of  his  mouth,  fill  the  scrub  hen's 
crop  to  overflowing.  When  lice  worry  her  she  rolls  in  the  dust  and 
deserts  her  so-called  house.  She  can  usually  clear  herself  of  all  but  head 
lice  in  this  way.  Roup  and  cholera  trouble  her  little — her  outdoor  life  keeps 
her  strong  and  well.  She  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  mighty  layer, 
because  she  does  about  all  her  laying  in  the  Spring  and  early  Summer,  and 
makes  a  big  fuss  about  is.  She  rarely  lays  50  eggs  during  the  year.  No  one 
keeps  her  record.  Without  care  she  will  go  back'  to  the  condition  of  her  an- 
cestors, who  only  laid  eggs  enough  to  fill  a  nest,  like  the  other  wild  birds. 
She  finds  her  own  nest,  for  those  man  fixes  for  her  are  not  to  her  taste. 
Sometimes  she  sits  on  her  eggs  for  several  days  before  they  are  picked  up, 
regardless  of  the  fact  that  before  two  days  of  incubation  are  over  the 
heart  of  the  little  chick  inside  the  egg  can  be  plainly  seen.  The  scrub 
hen  is  not  responsible  for  the  fact  that  thousands  of  such  eggs  are  sent  to 
market  to  disgust  those  who  ought  to  buy  more  eggs !  During  the  Winter 
the  scrub  hen  quits,  and  gives  a  fair  imitation  of  a  woodchuck  living  on 
his  fat.  No  one  can  blame  her!  She  has  all  she  can  do  to  keep  life  in 
her  body,  to  say  nothing  of  laying  eggs !  Many  of  these  scrub  hens  would, 
if  they  had  the  chance,  rank  well  as  layers,  with  some  of  the  purebreds, 
but  what  can  a  hen  do  without  a  chance? 

In  spite  of  all,  many  of  these  flocks  of  scrub  hens  are  profitable.  It 
costs  little  or  nothing  to  feed  them  in  Summer,  and  the  eggs  they  lay  and 
the  meat  they  furnish  are  nearly  all  clear  gain.  They  usually  deprive  the 
family  of  a  good  garden,  for  few  men  who  will  not  care  for  a  flock  of 
poultry  will  ever  build  a  ^  fence  that  will  keep  them  out  of  the  garden. 
Through  the  Winter  they  are   usually  an   expense  and  little  more.     The 


The   Scrub   Hen    Turned   to   Business.  11 

ordinary  flock  of  scrub  poultry  contains  a  large  number  of  surplus 
roosters — too  many  for  any  practical  use.  Lice,  starvation,  lack  of  shelter 
and  surplus  roosters  are  the  chief  reasons  why  many  of  these  worthy 
hens  remain  scrubs.  In  every  such  flock  there  is  the  foundation  for  a 
class  of  poultry  that  will  be  a  credit  to  the  farm,  and  pay  better  in  propor- 
tion to  value  than  any  other  stock.  If  the  farmer  does  not  care  for  the 
job  of  improvement  some  woman  or  child  may  well  take  hold  of  it. 

What  can  be  done? 

The  flock  is  probably  inbred — that  is,  all  of  one  family.  Kill  oflF  all 
the  roosters  and  eat  or  sell  them.  Pick  out  15  or  20  of  the  best  of  the 
hens,  and  make  some  good-sized  yard  where  they  can  have  a  good  run. 
Make  up  your  mind  what  class  of  poultry  you  want  to  breed,  and  then 
buy  a  Leghorn,  a  Wyandotte  or  a  Plymouth  Rock  rooster  from  some  good 
breeder.  Don't  go  to  a  neighbor  and  "swap  roosters,"  but  get  a  bird  that 
cannot  be  closely  related  to  your  hens.  If  you  can  pick  out  yearling  hens, 
buy  a  young  rooster.  If  the  hens  are  j'ounger  buy  an  older  male.  Put 
him  with  your  selected  hens,  and  use  those  eggs  for  setting.  You  need  no 
other  rooster  on  the  farm.  If  the  flock  is  small  you  may  not  want  to 
pen  up  the  selected  hens,  but  unless  you  do  you  cannot  be  sure  that  your 
eggs  for  hatching  will  be  what  you  want.  The  improvement  made  in  one 
season  by  the  use  of  a  good  male  on  selected  hens  is  often  surprising.  If 
you  can  do  so,  buy  one  or  two  settings  of  eggs  of  the  same  breed  as  the 
rooster,  and  hatch  them  under  your  hens.  Get  them  from  diflterent 
breeders.  Then  you  can  select  a  good  rooster  from  the  chicks  for  the  next 
year's  breeding.  As  soon  as  the  young  roosters  are  large  enough  to  kill 
sell  or  eat  them.  Keep  only  one  good  one  on  the  farm — with  your  best 
hens.  Do  not  let  the  hens  hatch  where  the  other  hens  lay,  or  send  them 
off  to  steal  their  nests.  You  must  control  such  things  if  you  expect  to 
improve  your  stock.  Find  some  old  building  or  room,  clean  it  up  and 
handle  the  sitting  hens  as  described  elsewhere  in  this  book.  It  will  take 
more  time  to  give  the  hens  and  chicks  this  care,  but  it  will  pay,  as  many 
a  farmer's  wife  has  found.  When  cold  weather  comes,  a  warm  house  will 
be  absolutely  necessary.  This  does  not  mean  an  expensive  building,  but  a 
shelter  of  any  kind  where  the  hens  may  be  comfortable.  In  parts  of  the 
West  a  frame  of  poles  is  set  up  and  covered  with  straw  in  November. 
The  hens  run  inside  this  warm  shelter  and  do  well.  In  May  the  straw 
is  taken  away  and  burned,  or  used  for  the  garden.  The  success  with  such 
rude  shelter  shows  that  it  is  not  so  much  the  kind  of  house,  but  the 
warmth  and  freedom  from  drafts,  frost,  lice  and  foul  air  that  makes  the 
hen  think  that  Spring  has  come  in  February.  On  every  farm  where  there  are 
hens  there  is  some  old  henhouse.  Clean  it  up  and  try  it.  Go  at  it  with 
hoe  and  boiling  water,  and  make  it  clean!  Take  out  the  roosts,  paint 
them  with  kerosene,  and  swab  out  the  cracks  and  corners.     Make  a  thick 


12  The   Business   Hen. 

whitewash,  add  a  little  carbolic  acid  to  it,  and  smear  the  whole  inside  over. 
An  old  house  is  alive  with  lice,  and  you  should  kill  them  all  before  you 
force  a  hen  to  stay  there.  Before  cold  weather  comes  make  that  house 
tight.  Either  tack  paper  all  around  inside  or  put  up  lath  or  wire  and  stuff 
in  straw.  Keep  drafts  away  from  the  hens.  Study  what  is  said  about 
house  building  and  feeding,  and  come  as  near  to  it  as  you  can.  The  chief 
object  of  this  book  is  to  show  how  others  have  succeeded  with  hens.  The 
scrub  grows  into  the  true  Business  Hen  by  the  application  of  business 
principles  which  mean  work,  care  and  patience.  You  must  work  these 
general  rules  out  to  suit  your  own  case.  Do  not  be  satisfied  with  the  scrub 
that  lays  50  eggs,  but  give  her  children  the  breeding  and  care  that  will 
make  them  lay  150  eggs. 

The  history  of  one  of  our  best  American  breeds,  the  Rhode  Island 
Red,  will  show  a  farmer  what  an  ordinary  hen  may  come  to  if  well  handled. 
By  carefully  selecting  his  best  hens  and  crossing  them  with  an  Asiatic 
breed,  a  Rhode  Island  farmer  obtained  a  class  of  poultry  which  became 
noted  for  egg  production  and  meat  value.  Others  took  up  the  hens,  and 
from  them  developed  the  Rhode  Island  Reds,  which  are  considered  by 
many  as  strong  rivals  of  the  Wyandottes.  The  breed  has  not  yet  been 
'  fixed" — that  is,  specimens  will  not  breed  as  true  in  color  or  habits  as 
a  breed  like  the  Plymouth  Rock.  Its  future  will  depend  upon  the  breeders 
who  perfect  it.  If  they  favor  large  egg  production,  they  will  select  hens 
with  that  object  in  view  and  thus  we  shall  have  a  smaller  and  more  active 
bird  than  the  Light  Brahma  or  even  the  Plymouth  Rock.  We  speak  of  this 
to  show  how  a  breeder  may  control  the  character  of  his  poultry. 

Another  thing  connected  with  improvement  of  the  scrub  hen  is  the 
moral  or  civilizing  effect  it  will  have  upon  the  family.  The  effect  upon 
any  household  of  changing  a  lot  of  neglected  mongrels  into  a  flock  of 
handsome  and  uniform  hens  cannot  help  being  beneficial.  It  will  create 
a  new  interest  in  farming  and  lead  to  efforts  to  improve  the  larger  stock 
on  the  farm.  If  some  bright  boy  can  be  put  in  charge  of  the  work  and 
given  a  fair  chance  to  develop  the  hens  you  will  begin  to  train  a  good  far- 
mer while  improving  the  flock.  On  some  farms  the  boy  often  has  a  colt 
or  a  calf  or  pig  to  call  his  own,  though  he  does  not  always  get  the  money 
for  it.  For  many  reasons  a  good  flock  of  poultry  would  be  much  better 
for  him,  and  it  would  be  hard  to  think  of  any  better  training  for  such  a 
boy  than  the  patience  and  skill  required  to  turn  a  scrub  into  a  "Business 
Hen." 


CHAPTER     III. 
Parents  of  the  Egg. 

The  egg  contains  the  future  chick.  It  may  be  said  to  carry  the  character 
of  the  parents  wrapped  up  in  a  shell.  Having  selected  the  breed  that  is 
best  suited  to  his  wants  and  conditions,  the  poultry  keeper  of  course  wants 
the  best  specimens  of  that  breed  that  he  can  produce.  It  is  far  better  to 
stick  to  one  breed  and  select  a  definite  type  than  to  cross  breeds. 

PEDIGREE.— We  know  that  with  all  animals,  from  cats  to  cattle,  there 
are  good  and  bad  specimens  in  every  breed.  We  call  some  cows  better 
than  others  because  the  good  ones  give  more  milk  than  the  poor  ones. 
We  do  not  from  choice  raise  calves  from  cows  that  we  know  are  poor  ones. 
If  we  raise  calves  at  all  we  save  the  daughters  of  the  best  cows  in  the 
herd,  because  we  feel  sure  that  some  of  the  good  qualities  of  the  mother 
will  be  handed  down  to  the  daughter.  We  know  that  such  things  as  color 
and  shape  are  carried  in  this  way,  and  that  character  goes  along  with  them. 
If  the  mother  is  reasonably  sure  to  give  something  of  her  character  to  her 
daughter  she  is  more  likely  to  do  so  if  her  own  mother  and  ancestors,  for 
several  generations,  have  been  selected  for  a  similar  purpose.  That  is 
what  we  call  "pedigree"  in  live  stock,  and  improvement  in  the  character 
of  the  cow  or  the  hen  comes  through  our  ability  to  make  the  daughter 
better  than  the  mother.  The  way  to  do  this  is  to  select  the  best  mothers 
for  breeding. 

How  are  we  to  know  them? 

A  good  dairyman  can  pick  out  a  first-class  milker  by  her  shape  and 
various  points  which  he  can  see  or  feel.  His  eye  will  enable  him  to  make 
a  good  guess,  but  he  would  not  raise  a  calf  from  one  of  these  cows  until 
he  had  a  fair  idea  of  how  much  milk  she  can  give,  or  what  her  mother  did. 
Most  men  who  try  to  improve  their  poultry  must  depend  on  the  eye  for 
selecting  breeding  stock.  They  make  up  their  mind  what  size,  shape  and 
color  will  suit  them.  When  that  is  fixed  in  mind  they  have  a  "type,"  and 
they  will  naturally  cull  out  the  birds  that  fall  short  of  it.  By  watching 
their  hens  and  observing  their  habits  they  soon  find  that  they  can  pick  out 
the  layers,  just  as  they  learn  to  separate  the  workers  from  the  shirks  in 
men  or  in  children.  They  find  that  the  laying  hen  acts  like  a  worker.  She 
is  busy  and  active — off  the  roost  early  in  the  morning  after  food — a  picture 
of  nervous  energy.  The  lazy  hen  is  slow  to  leave  the  roost,  and  shows  by 
her  actions  that  she  takes  little  interest  in  the  things  that  attract  the  layer. 
We  cannot  describe  the  "points"  of  a  layer.  A  man  must  study  them 
for  himself.     Mr.  C.  H.  Wyckoff,  who  selected  his  White  Leghorn  breeding 


14 


The    Business   Hen. 


hens  by  the  eye — studying  shape  and  what  egg-laying  habits  he  could  see — 
said  that  when  he  finally  made  his  selection  he  found  the  hens  about 
as  follows: 

EGG  TYPE. — "Large-boned,  rather  long  in  leg  and  neck,  long  on  the 
back,  deep  up  and  down,  with  legs  set  fairly  well  apart,  breast  bone  some- 
what prominent,  flesh  hard,  strong  and  muscular,  in  good  condition,  but 
not  fat ;  comb  rather  above  average  in  size ;  eyes  bright  and  full ;  disposition 
lively,  but  not  scarey;  more  inclined  to  follow  after  and  crowd  about  than 
to  run  and  fly;  large  consumers  of  food,  and  always  hungry  when  fed 
regularly  and  given  a  chance  to  exercise." 

Of  course  the  type  for  other  breeds  would  differ  from  this,  but  the 
owner  must  first  decide  what  he  wants  his  hens  to  be,  and  then  watch  for 
that  type  in  his  flock.     In  most  breeds  the  best  layers  are  broad  and  deep, 

with  rather  long  bodies,  with  a  long 
neck  and  small  head.  The  shape  of  the 
hen  is  not  as  safe  a  guide  as  with 
other  animals,  for  the  hen  is  covered 
with  feathers  which  may  seem  to 
change  her  shape.  The  actions  of  the 
hen  indicate  her  laying  qualities  far 
better  than  her  shape;  still  it  is  well 
to  fix  a  certain  type  in  mind  and  use  it 
for  our  standard.  Strong  and  vigor- 
ous chicks  cannot  be  hatched  unless 
the  hens  are  in  good  condition.  If 
they  are  fat  and  dumpy  the  chicks  will 
fail.  The  hens  must  be  kept  at  work 
and  in  good  condition. 

SELECTING  BREEDERS.— When 
a  man  is  keeping  poultry  for  profit,  or  expects  to  continue  in  the  business, 
he  should  keep  these  selected  breeders  by  themselves  with  the  best  male 
bird  he  can  find.  In  this  way  he  can  use  the  eggs  from  these  hens  for 
hatching.  Usually  he  will  have  to  select  the  male  by  his  appearance,  but 
he  should  try  to  have  him  close  to  the  general  type  of  the  hens,  and  be 
sure  that  he  is  strong,  vigorous  and  active.  It  is  not  a  wise  plan  to  select 
these  breeders  in  the  Spring,  just  before  their  eggs  are  wanted  for  hatching. 
All  hens  are  laying  them,  the  lazy  as  well  as  the  good  ones,  and  the  hen 
that  lays  50  eggs  a  year  may  make  more  fuss  while  she  is  actually  working 
than  the  one  that  lays  150.  We  should  watch  the  hens  through  the  season, 
and  make  the  selection  during  the  late  Summer  and  Fall,  when  most  of 
them  stop. 

TRAP  NESTS. — There  is  a  way  of  picking  the  robbers  from  tht 
workers  by  using  what  are  called  "trap  nests."    Two  of  such  nests  are 


Fig.  4.     TRAP  NEST  OPEN. 


Parents   of   the   Egg. 


shown  here.  The  nest  is  a  box  with  the  door  so  adjusted  that  when  the 
hen  goes  in  to  lay  this  door  closes  and  shuts  her  in.  She  cannot  get  out 
until  some  one  opens  the  door.  Each  hen  has  a  band  on  her  leg  carrying 
a  number,  and  by  marking  her  number  on  the  egg  she  has  laid,  it  is  possible 
to  know  what  each  hen  in  the  pen  is  doing.  Those  who  use  these  trap 
nests  tell  some  remarkable  stories  about  their  results.  They  have  picked 
out  hens  by  the  eye  and  found  by  testing  that  some  of  them  laid  twice 
as  many  eggs  as  others.  It  is  claimed  that  by  testing  hens  with  the  trap 
nests  and  using  eggs  from  the  best  for  hatching,  through  several  gener- 
ations, an  "egg-laying  strain"  of  great  value  can  be  developed.  The  plan 
is  not  generally  practiced,  however.  Most  breeders  think  it  requires  too 
much  time.  The  hens  sometimes  refuse 
to  enter  the  nests  and  lay  outside.  It 
is  also  claimed  that  the  egg-laying 
habit  alone  is  not  a  safe  guide,  but  that 
the  shape  and  vigor  of  the  birds  must 
be  considered.  The  "trap  nest"  at  least 
gives  a  chance  for  selecting  a  male  bird 
of  good  "pedigree."  For  the  average 
poultry  keeper  the  best  advice  is  to 
pick  out  a  type  and  study  the  habits  of 
the  hens.  Then  select  by  the  eye  hens 
enough  to  supply  the  eggs  needed  for 
hatching.  We  would  especially  study 
the  actions  of  the  pullets  as  they  begin 
to  lay. 

CARE  OF  BREEDERS.— These 
breeders  should  be  given  as  large  a  run 
as  possible,  for  exercise  is  necessary  if 
we  expect  healthy  chicks.  Yearling 
hens  are  selected  for  breeders  with  a 
younger  male.     There  are  several  good 

reasons  why  pullets  are  not  used  for  breeding  stock  by  experienced  poultry- 
men.  They  begin  laying  earlier  than  the  older  hens,  so  that  when  eggs 
are  most  wanted  for  incubators  the  pullets  have  been  laying  steadily  for 
a  long  time.  Such  eggs  are  not  so  likely  to  be  fertile  as  those  laid 
earlier  in  the  laying  period  and  the  chicks  from  them  will  be  weaker.  We 
want  eggs  from  the  hen  in  her  full  vigor,  not  after  she  has  been  exhausted 
by  long  laying.  The  pullets  too  are  young  and  not  fully  matured,  and  thus 
not  so  likely  to  produce  the  best  chicks.  The  older  hens  lay  fewer  eggs, 
which  are  likely  to  be  stronger.  If  pullets  are  used  an  older  male  should 
be  put  with  them,  while  a  vigorous  young  bird  is  better  for  the-  older  hens. 
The  number  of  hens  to  the  male  will  vary  with  the  breed  and  the  size  of  the 


Fig.  5.     TRAP  NEST  SHUT. 


16  The   Business   Hen. 

flock.  For  the  heavier  breeds  15  hens  are  enough,  while  we  have  known 
cases  where  one  male  to  50  Leghorn  hens  gave  a  large  per  cent  of  fertile 
eggs.  For  the  smaller  breeds  we  prefer  an  average  of  25  hens.  In  some 
cases  two  males  are  used  alternately  in  a  small  flock.  One  will  run  with 
the  hens  for  four  or  five  days,  while  the  other  is  kept  in  a  small  cage. 
Then  the  caged  bird  will  be  set  free  and  his  rival  put  in  the  cage.  This 
double  system  is  more  likely  to  insure  fertile  eggs,  but  of  course  the  two 
males  must  be  alike  in  type.  Some  successful  poultrymen  pay  little 
attention  to  selecting  breeders,  but  take  eggs  from  large  flocks  where 
several  males  are  kept  together.  Such  men  say  that  proper  feeding  will 
make  any  hen  lay,  but  unless  hens  are  quite  different  from  all  other  animals 
their  character  is  largely  made  by  inherited  qualities. 

We  give  considerable  space  to  this  matter,  because  it  is  the  foundation 
of  improvement  in  the  flock  of  poultry.  The  proper  selection  and  mating 
of  the  parents  of  the  &gg  may  mean  a  difference  of  50  per  cent  in 
hatchable  eggs  and  raisable  chicks.  In  some  farm  flocks  little  attention 
is  paid  to  improvement  by  selection — the  plea  being  that  it  takes  too  much 
time  to  bother  with  such  things,  though  a  child  might  easily  be  interested 
in  it.  Even  in  such  cases  it  will  pay  to  have  a  certain  type  in  mind,  and 
cull  out  for  eating  purposes  the  birds  that  fall  short  of  this  standard. 
We  may  undo  most  of  our  work  of  breeding  by  selection  if  we  do  not 
bring  in  "new  blood"  from  time  to  time.  Some  good  flocks  are  ruined 
by  what  is  known  as  "inbreeding" — that  is,  breeding  brothers  and  sisters 
or  closely  related  members  of  the  same  family.  We  can  obtain  "new 
blood"  by  buying  a  good  male  bird  from  some  breeder,  or  several  sittings 
of  eggs. 

From  the  chicks  hatched  from  these  eggs  we  should  be  able  to  pick 
two  or  more  good  males  to  head  our  breeding  pens ;  above  all  things,  be 
sure  to  select  strong  and  vigorous  stock.  When  we  buy  such  eggs  or 
birds  we  buy  a  share  of  the  skill  and  patience  which  other  breeders  have 
spent  in  selecting.  We  may  thus  buy  for  a  'dollar  results  which  would 
cost  us  five  years  of  personal  study  and  work. 

CROSSING  THE  BREEDS.— Mr.  P.  H.  Jacobs  says  that  it  is  the 
common  belief  among  many  that  to  mate  individuals  of  different  breeds 
is  to  insure  greater  vigor  and  hardiness,  as  well  as  avoid  inbreeding.  Such 
a  system  among  poultrymen  is  termed  "crossing."  Before  crossing  for 
"vigor"  it  would  be  well  first  to  ascertain  whether  the  flock  is  lacking  in 
that  respect,  and,  if  so,  the  safer  method  would  be  to  discard  the  individuals 
and  replace  them  with  others  of  the  same  breeds.  All  breeds  are  the 
result  of  careful  and  judicious  crossing,  and  any  attempt  to  improve  a 
flock  of  purebred  fowls  by  crossing  is  to  incur  the  risk  of  destroying  all 
the  desirable  characteristics  obtained  only  after  years  of  patient  industry 
and  skillful  selection. 


Parents   of   the   Egg.  17 

"It  should  not  be  overlooked  that  each  breed  possesses  only  one 
dominant  trait,  or  talent.  It  may  combine  several  desirable  characteristics, 
but  it  will  excel  in  one  only.  No  breed  is  perfect,  as  it  will  surely  be 
found  lacking  in  some  respect.  For  instance,  the  prolificacy  of  certain 
breeds  may  be  offset  by  lack  of  hardiness,  exceedingly  large  combs,  very 
small  size,  inability  to  endure  confinement,  etc.,  while  the  breeds  preferred 
in  market  may  not  equal  some  others  as  layers. 

"When  two  purebred  fowls  are  crossed — that  is,  when  birds  of  different 
breeds  are  mated — such  breeding  cannot  possibly  add  to  the  progress  more 
than  is  possessed  by  the  parent  individuals.  The  crossing  of  Leghorn  and 
Brahma  fowls  does  not  prove  beneficial,  for  the  reason  that  such  a  cross  is 
not  only  what  may  be  termed  a  'violent'  one,  but  the  progeny  is  not  a  non- 
sitter,  like  its  Leghorn  parent,  does  not  possess  greater  activity  than  the 
Leghorn,  nor  it  is  as  hardy  as  the  Brahma,  losing  in  size  as  well  as  in 
adaptability  to  exist  under  the  same  condi- 
tions as  either  parent.  A  cross  of  Ham- 
burg and  Leghorn  (within  non-sitting 
breeds)  made  by  me,  produced  progeny 
with  persistent  inclination  to  become 
broody,  while  every  attempt  to  secure 
vigor,  hardiness,  improved  market  quality, 
or  prolificacy,  by  crossing  dozens  of 
breeds,  in  various  matings  and  selections, 
has  always  failed  to  give  me  satisfactory  ..^^^^^  johN""trap  NEST. 
results.     It    is    better    to    rely    upon   pure 

breeds,  and  select  them  especially  for  the  purpose  one  may  have  in  view, 
as  each  breed  will  be  found  adapted  for  accomplishing  certain  objects  more 
than  others. 

"Crossing  is  always  disastrous  to  him  who  abandons  the  pure  breeds. 
The  next  generation  (if  the  cross-bred  fowls  are  used)  produces  nonde- 
scripts, having  no  uniformity  of  color,  size,  or  characteristics,  seemingly 
reverting  to  all  the  ancestors  in  their  breeding,  the  whole  being  a  motley 
lot,  on  a  par  with  scrubs.  The  first  cross  of  two  purebred  fowls  usually 
shows  the  progeny  to  resemble  the  male  parent  in  general  appearance, 
rather  than  the  female,  and  the  points  of  excellence  of  the  parents  are 
lost  rather  than  intensified.  My  experience  has  been  that  no  one  has  ever 
attempted  the  crossing  of  pure  breeds  who  did  not  eventually  find  his  flock 
composed  of  scrubs,  and  crossing  has  done  more  to  disgust  admirers  of 
poultry  than  anything  else,  as  by  so  doing  they  destroy  the  beauty  of  their 
flocks  and  gain  nothing  from  a  utilitarian  standpoint.  If  one  wishes  to 
add  vigor  and  hardiness  to  the  members  of  his  flock  he  can  do  so  by  pro- 
curing males  from  other  well-known  sources,  while  even  the  common  flock 
may  be  improved  by  the  use  of  purebred  males  every  year." 


CHAPTER     IV. 
What  is  an  Egg  ? 

The  egg  is  the  first  stage  in  the  reproduction  of  birds.  Its  function 
primarily  is  to  produce  offspring,  secondarily  to  furnish  food  for  the 
embryo  and  for  man.  The  hen  therefore  fulfills  dual  purposes  which  in 
a  measure  are  antagonistic  in  their  requirements.  The  first  demand  of 
nature  is  that  the  hen  shall  produce  eggs  that  possess  all  the  qualities  ot 
life  and  nutrition  necessary  to  produce  strong  chickens;  the  second,  that 
she  shall  furnish  eggs  good  to  eat  and  lots  of  them.  In  order  to  satisfy 
the  commercial  requirements  of  man  the  hen  often  is  compelled  to  sacri- 
fice the  higher  demands  of  nature.  It  becomes  a  vital  question  therefore 
for  every  poultryman  to  decide  to  v^^hat  extent  he  can  force  heavy  lay- 
ing w^ithout  sacrificing  the  fertility  of  the  eggs  or  the  vitality  of  the 
chickens.  It  is  well,  then,  that  we  inquire  what  an  egg  is  and  how  it  is 
formed. 

HOW  THE  EGG  IS  MADE.— The  first  stage  in  the  development  of 
the  egg  is  the  formation  of  the  "yolk."  The  "ovary"  or  "egg  cluster," 
which  forms  a  part  of  the  muscular  tissue  on  the  left  side  of  the 
spine,  contains  many  yolks  in  various  stages  of  development,  depending 
upon  the  condition  of  the  hen,  from  the  full-sized  ripe  yolk  ready  to  bt 
detached,  to  the  microscopic  cells  so  small  that  they  cannot  be  discerned 
by  the  naked  eye.  Within  this  ovarian  tissue  is  the  power  to  develop 
countless  other  yolks  not  yet  apparent.  The  number  of  these  yolks  or 
"ova,"  which  may  be  developed,  is  not  a  fixed  quantity,  certainly  not 
exactly  600,  as  is  frequently  stated.  The  number  of  eggs  which  a  hen 
will  lay  depends  upon  the  inherited  tendency  of  each  hen  to  reproduce,  and 
upon  her  vigor  and  vitality  to  withstand  the  heavy  drain  upon  her  system. 
The  ovary  of  certain  hens  is  absolutely  sterile.  Others  have  the  power  to 
produce  a  few  eggs  in  short  litters,  while  some  have  an  ovary  so  strong 
and  reproductive  that  they  lay  almost  without  interruption,  and  continue 
to  do  so  for  years.  The  egg-laying  power  is  a  matter  of  inheritance.  It 
is  a  question  of  selection  and  breeding,  and  of  stimulating  the  ovaries 
to  activity  by  proper  feeding. 

Fig.  1,  next  page,  shows  ovary  of  a  hen ;  2  is  the  yolk  held  within 
the  ovisac  or  follicle  (5).  When  the  yolk  is  fully  ripe  it  bursts  from  the 
follicle  and  drops  into  the  neck  of  the  oviduct  (7).  Here  we  see  a  wise 
provision  of  nature.  In  order  to  prevent  rupture  of  blood  vessels  where 
the  follicle  opens,  there  is  a  suture  mark  around  the  entire  surface,  where 
the  blood  vessels  meet  but  do  not  cross   (4).     If  for  any  reason  the  folli- 


tVJiat   ts   An    Eggf 


1§ 


cle  is  ruptured  before  it  is  matured,  through  rough  handling  of  the  fowl 
or  because  of  weakness  due  to  debility,  a  slight  clot  of  blood  escapes, 
which  remains  on  the  surface  of  the  yolk  or  mingles  with  the  white,  which 
leads  the  consumer  to  suspect  an  egg  which  is  perfectly  fresh  to  havt 
been  slightly  incubated.  Occasionally,  when  hens  are  in  perfect  laying 
condition,  two  yolks  will  ripen  and  burst  their  follicles  at  the  same  time, 


Fig.   7.     DEVELOPMENT  OF  A   HEN'S  EGG. 


The  Business  Hen. 


and  be  encased  within  the  same  shell,  producing  a  double  yolked  tgg.  Il 
is  perfectly  apparent  then  that  if  the  yolk  is  the  first  part  of  the  egg  to 
be  formed  that  all  the  conditions  for  its  development  must  be  met,  or  the 
hen  cannot  make  the  egg.  The  activity  of  development  of  the  ovary 
depends  first  upon  good  health.  The  hen  in  the  best  laying  condition  is 
in  the  best  health.  Reproduction  is  a  question  of  nerve  strength  which  is 
dependent  upon  physical  vigor.  The  over-fat  hen  does  not  lay  well, 
because  over-fatness  is  softness  and  weakness,  which  ends  in  debility.     A 

poor  hen  cannot 
lay  because  there 
is  no  surplus  fat 
with  which  t  & 
make  the  egg.  An- 
alysis of  the  yolk 
of  an  egg  shows 
it  about  one-half 
fat.  Unless  the 
fowl  can  sup- 
ply the  available 
fat  the  yolk  can- 
not develop. 
Therefore  it  will 
be  found  that  the 
hens  in  their  best 
laying  condition 
will  have  a  little 
surplus  fat  in  their 
body. 

When  the  yolk 
has  entered  the 
oviduct  it  is  quick- 
ly    passed     along 

PIG.    8.     FORMS    OP    EGGS.  "^^^'^      ?\.  "i^"" 

men  or  white  is 
deposited  (10).  During  the  passage  it  is  pushed  forward  by  the  con- 
traction of  the  muscles  of  the  oviduct,  which,  being  twisted  and  convoluted, 
gives  the  yolk  a  turning  motion  as  it  advances,  so  that  the  albumen  is 
deposited  in  several  layers.  These  layers  may  be  seen  by  examining  care- 
fully a  hard-boiled  egg.  The  twisting  motion  of  the  yolk  in  its  passage 
causes  twisted  string-like  fibres  of  albumen  to  form  on  two  sides  of  the 
yolk.  These  are  called  the  "chalazae,"  Fig.  3  (5).  They  cause  the  yolk  to 
swing  in  the  watery  albumen  like  a  hammock.  This  tends  to  prevent 
injury  to  the  yolk  by  any  jarring  or  jolting  which  the  egg  may  receive. 


What  Is   An   Egg?  21 

Whatever  way  the  egg  is  turned  the  yolk  quickly  assumes  its  natural 
position.  The  yolk,  containing  a  large  amount  of  fat,  is  lighter  than 
the  albumen,  therefore  has  a  tendency  to  float  at  the  surface,  which  during 
incubation  allows  the  young  germ  of  life,  which  is  on  the  surface  of  the 
lightest  portion  of  the  yolk,  to  float  in  the  warmest  portion  of  the  egg, 
which  is  in  contact  with  the  body  of  the  incubating  hen. 

The  yolk  is  covered  by  the  "vitelline"  membrane  (11).  The  yellow 
liquid  within  the  membrane  is  called  the  "vitellus,"  which  is  used  for  the 
most  part  to  nourish  the  young  chicken  just  before  and  for  several  days 
after  it  hatches.  The  color  of  the  yolk  depends  upon  the  kind  of  food  fed. 
Yellow  corn  and  green  food  produce  a  deep  colored  yolk,  while  oats, 
wheat  and  buckwheat  produce  a  light  yellow,  due  to  the  absence  of  color- 
ing pigment  in  the  grain.  One  of  the  first  signs  of  weakened  vitality  in 
hens  is  a  tenderness  of  the  vitelline  membrane,  which  often  ruptures  when 
eggs  are  roughly  handled.  This  allows  the  vitellus  to  escape  and  mingle 
with  the  white.  The  yolks  therefore  of  perfectly  fresh  eggs  from  such 
hens  will  rupture  even  when  the  egg  is  carefully  broken.  Keeping  eggs 
weakens  the  vitelline  membrane. 

Just  under  the  vitelline  membrane,  and  at  the  surface  of  the  yolk,  is 
the  "germinal  vesicle,"  Fig.  1  (12),  the  vital  life  principle  of  the  egg.  With- 
out fecundation  by  the  male  no  life  would  be  developed  in  the  germinal 
vesicle,  and  the  egg  would  be  infertile.  If  fecundation  should  take  place 
and  the  hen  should  not  be  in  vigorous  condition,  life  would  not  necessarily 
be  developed.  Infertility  is  due  quite  as  much  to  lack  of  vital  force  of 
the  hen,  because  of  close  confinement,  excessive  laying  or  improper  feed- 
ing as  to  any  fault  of  the  male. 

Fecundation  cannot  take  place  until  the  yolk  has  burst  from  the 
tough  skin  of  the  follicle.  Fig.  1  (5),  has  entered  the  oviduct.  Fig.  1  (7). 
Here  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  "spermatozoa"  of  the  male,  which  there 
swarm  and  live  for  several  weeks,  growing  less  numerous  and  less  active 
with  age.  The  spermatozoa  penetrate  the  vitelline  membrane,  unite  with 
the  germinal  vesicle  and  life  is  begun.  If  the  egg  should  be  retained 
for  any  considerable  time,  which  often  happens,  the  body  heat  will  start 
the  process  of  incubation,  which  will  continue  until  the  egg  is  placed  in 
a  temperature  too  cold  for  development.  Eggs  which  are  not  fertile  will 
therefore  continue  without  danger  of  incubation  in  a  temperature  that 
would  allow  life  to  develop  with  a  fertile  t^g. 

After  the  albumen  has  been  secreted  in  the  part  of  the  oviduct.  Fig.  1 
(9),  it  is  pushed  along  to  a  point  where  the  shell  membrane  is  formed,  it  is 
supposed  somewhere  at  or  between  13 — 14  Fig.  1,  after  which  another 
membrane  is  added.  Then  the  egg  passes  to  position  marked  14  Fig.  1, 
and  Fig.  2  (2),  where  the  glands  secrete  a  liquid  which  contains  carbonate 
of  lime  and  other  mineral  matters.     This  hardening  process  is  completed 


22  The   Business  Hen. 

frequently  while  the  hen  is  on  the  nest.  A  color  pigment  is  sometimes 
secreted  with  the  shell-making  liquid,  which  gives  to  eggs  their  character- 
istic colors.  The  color  of  the  shell  is  largely  an  individual  characteristic, 
and  remains  practically  constant  with  the  individual,  except  that  the  egg 
shell  gradually  fades  in  color  toward  the  end  oi  the  laying  period.  This  is 
particularly  noticeable  in  comparing  the  first  and  the  last  eggs  laid  by 
turkeys.  The  shell-making  fluid  appears  to  be  secreted  by  tiny  ducts, 
which  leave  their  impression  by  numerous  fine  depressions  or  pores  in 
the  egg  shell,  which  can  be  easily  seen  by  close  inspection.  The  importance 
of  providing  mineral  matter  in  the  form  of  cracked  oyster  shell,  mortar 
and  bone  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  if  the  hen  lacks  these  materials  or  through 
debility  cannot  assimilate  them,  her  eggs  will  be  soft-shelled.  Naturally, 
when  the  egg  production  has  drained  her  system  of  this  material,  her 
appetite  craves  it,  and  if  it  is  not  otherwise  supplied,  she  will  instinctively 
eat  the  egg  shells.     This  is  the  most  common  cause  of  egg  eating. 

When  the  egg  rests  in  the  "cloaca,"  Fig.  2  (4),  before  being  laid,  it  is 
covered  with  a  secretion  that  assists  in  the  depositing  of  the  egg,  which 
when  dry  gives  the  shell  its  natural  fresh  appearance,  and  which  undoubt- 
edly has  much  to  do  with  controlling  the  evaporation  of  the  egg  contents. 
Therefore  eggs  for  hatching  should  not  be  washed  unless  it  be  to  remove 
dirt  which  would  materially  stop  the  pores  in  the  shell.  This  oily  coating 
is  particularly  apparent  on  duck  eggs. 

It  is  to  be  doubted  whether  a  hen  can  voluntarily  stop  the  formation 
of  an  egg  up  to  the  point  of  its  completion.  But  she  can  retain  the  egg 
at  will  for  considerable  time  thereafter.  It  is. perfectly  certain,  however, 
that  improper  feeding,  neglect,  fright  or  any  condition  that  interferes  with 
digestion  or  peace  of  mind  will  stop  the  process  of  egg-making  in  any 
of  its  stages.  Frequently  the  white  is  deposited  without  yolk  or  shell. 
It  is  very  common  to  find  eggs  devoid  of  shell,  and  occasionally  a  yolk 
will  be  laid  without  shell  or  albumen.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  an  egg 
with  white  and  shell  complete  without  the  yolk.  In  rare  instances  a  per- 
fect egg  has  been  found  within  an  egg.  This  is  brought  about  by  the 
completed  egg  being  forced  back  by  injury  through  the  portion  of  the 
oviduct  where  additional  albumen  is  secreted  and  then  returning  to  the 
place  where  a  new  shell  is  deposited.  When  the  egg  evaporates,  the  outer 
membrane,  Fig.  3  (3),  continues  to  adhere  to  the  shell,  while  the  inner 
membrane  follows  the  contents  of  the  egg  as  it  shrinks  in  size,  thus  form- 
ing the  air  space,  which  is  usually  at  the  large  end  of  the  egg,  occasion- 
ally on  the  side  and  rarely  on  the  small  end. 

The  shape  of  the  egg  is  determined  by  the  form  of  the  mold  in  which 
it  is  cast,  which  differs  with  breeds,  varieties,  and  even  with  individuals 
of  the  same  strain.  The  form  of  egg  peculiar  to  an  individual  remains 
practically  constant,  so  much  so  that  one  can  pick  out  an  egg  from  certain 


What   Is   An    Egg?  23 

hens  from  a  large  flock  with  quite  a  degree  of  certainty,  purely  by  the 
shape  of  the  egg.  ihe  groups  of  eggs  shown  in  Figs.  8-11  show  this  point 
very  accurately.  The  eggs  marked  (a)  were  laid  by  hen  No.  56 ;  those 
at  (b)  by  hen  No.  148,  both  White  Wyandottes ;  those  at  (c)  by  hen 
No.  70;  those  at  (d)  by  hen  No.  75,  both  Single  Comb  White  Leghorns; 


Fig.   9.     FORMS  OF   EGGS. 


those  at  (e)  were  laid  by  a  White  Plymouth  Rock;  those  at  (f)  by  a 
Barred  Plymouth  Rock.  It  will  be  seen  that  each  hen  has  a  type  of  egg 
which  is  peculiarly  her  own,  differing  only  slightly  from  day  to  day,  ex- 
cept in  a  case  of  abnormality  due  to  some  unusual  condition.     The  eggs 


24  The   Business   Hen. 

marked  a,  b,  c,  and  d,  were  picked  out  of  a  large  tray  full  of  eggs  which 
were  laid  by  different  hens.  The  selection  was  made  strictly  upon  their 
shape  and  color  without  looking  at  the  number  of  the  hen,  which  is 
marked  on  the  large  end  of  the  egg  when  it  is  gathered.     The  peculiar 


Fia.  10.     FORMS  OF  EGGS. 


characteristics  distinguishing  the  egg  were  so  marked  that  scarcely  any 
error  was  made  guessing  the  identity  of  the  hen  that  laid  them.  The  eggs 
marked  (a)   were  distinguishable  by  their  large  size,  extreme  length  and 


LilDrary 


What   Is   An   Egg? 


rich  uniform  light 
brown  color ;  eggs 
marked  (b)  by  their 
perfect  egg  shape, 
large  size  and  dark 
brown  color ;  eggs 
marked  (c)  by  their 
long,  thin  form  with 
a  tendency  to  a  slight 
ridge  in  the  center; 
eggs  marked  (d)  by 
their  almost  abnor- 
mal roundness ;  eggs 
marked  (e)  by  the 
peculiar  wart-like  ex- 
crescence on  the  small 
end    of    each    egg. 

Abnormal  eggs  are 
due  either  to  injury 
to  the  fowl  while  the 
egg  is  being  formed 
or  to  faulty  nutrition. 
The  cuts  represent 
various  types  of  ab- 
normal eggs,  (a)  and 
(1)  are  too  long; 
(m),  (e)  and  (o)  too 
round;  (k)  is  wedge 
shaped;  (o)  has  a  de- 
cided ridge  at  the 
center;  (f)  and  (q) 
are  flattened  on  one 
side ;  those  marked 
(j)  are  elliptical;  (i) 
are  almost  cylindrical 


IG.  11.     FORMS  OF  EGGS. 


)  is  drawn  out  at  the  point;  (p)  are  eggs  with 
rough,  weak  shells;  (g)  is  as  round  as  a  marble  and  about  the  size  of  a 
hickorynut;  (h)  is  about  the  same  size,  but  elongated;  those  marked  (r) 
represent  the  two  extremes,  a  double-yolked  egg  and  a  diminutive  but 
perfect  shaped  egg.  These  small  eggs  are  nearly  always  devoid  of  yolks. 
It  does  not  follow  that  a  hen  that  lays  a  diminutive  egg  has  laid  similar 
eggs  previously  or  that  she  will  do  so  again.  Eggs  marked  (g)  were  all 
laid  by  the  Single  Comb  White  Leghorn  hen  No.  85;  those  marked  (h) 
were    laid   by    the    Single    Comb    White    Leghorn    hen    No.    82,    the    two 


26  TJie   Business   Hen. 

normal  eggs  in  each  case  being  laid  a  few  days  after  the  abnormal.  The 
abnormality,  however,  may  continue.  One  hen  laid  seven  diminutive 
tggs  continuously  and  then  stopped  laying.  Of  the  five  eggs  marked  (a), 
Fig.  10,  the  first  two  eggs  which  are  perfect  and  normal  were  followed  by 
the  abnormal  long-drawn-out  egg  which  was  so  weak  at  the  point  that 
it  scarcely  retained  the  egg  contents.  Within  two  or  three  days  follow- 
ing the  other  two  eggs  were  laid  which  were  perfectly  normal  and  sound. 

Just  how  long  it  takes  for  each  part  of  the  egg  to  be  secreted  is 
not  known.  The  whole  process  is  supposed  to  take  about  18  hours.  Con- 
siderable time  is  taken  for  the  shell  to  be  deposited  and  to  harden.  Two 
eggs  can  be  under  way  at  the  same  time.  When  the  hen  is  not  laying  the 
oviduct  is  shrunken  and  not  more  than  one-fifth  its  natural  size.  Like  all 
secretory  glands,  the  oviduct  enlarges  with  the  activity  of  the  organ.  In 
this  one  respect  it  may  be  compared  with  the  udder  of  a  cow  "fresh  in 
milk"  and  one  "gone  dry."  The  oviduct  when  stretched  out  and  congested 
is  normally  a  little  over  20  inches  long. 

The  development  of  an  egg  is  more  elaborate  and  more  exhaustive  than 
a  simple  secretion  like  that  of  milk-making.  It  is  both  a  reproductive  and 
a  secretory  process.  The  perfect  egg  contains  the  materials  and  the  life 
to  form  a  new  animal,  a  shell  to  protect  it  during  subsequent  develop- 
ment, and  the  food  to  nourish  it  for  several  days  after  it  is  born.  A  good 
hen  is  expected  to  lay,  that  is,  to  give  birth  to,  about  150  offspring  in  a 
year,  which  is  equivalent  to  about  five  times  her  own  weight.  This  is 
a  heavy  drain  upon  her  system.  Something  of  its  immediate  effect  will 
be  seen  by  the  fact  ascertained  by  one  of  our  students  (Henry  Jennings) 
that  a  hen's  temperature  immediately  after  laying  is  from  two  to  three 
degrees  higher  than  normal,  the  normal  being  about  106. 

The  composition  of  the  egg  remains  practically  constant.  This  is 
true  even  under  different  systems  of  feeding.  Careful  observation  of  two 
pens  of  Plymouth  Rock  hens  was  made  and  the  eggs  analyzed  after 
they  had  been  fed  about  three  months  on  radically  different  rations. 
Pen  one  was  fed  largely  on  protein-rich  foods;  pen  two  was  fed  largely 
on  foods  deficient  in  protein,  the  former  being  a  ration  for  making  muscle 
and  the  latter  for  making  fat.  Nevertheless  the  eggs  from  the  two  pens 
remained  practically  identical  in  composition.  This  illustrates  one  of  the 
highest  laws  of  nature,  namely,  that  the  animal  will  sacrifice  its  own  bodily 
strength  in  order  to  make  a  perfect  offspring,  which  is  a  necessary  pro- 
vision to  insure  the  perpetuation  of  the  species.  There  is  little  difference 
in  the  composition  of  eggs  from  different  breeds,  or  between  light-shelled 
and  dark-shelled  eggs. 

There  is  a  difference  between  hens  that  are  well  fed  and  those  that 
are  improperly  fed,  as  shown  in  their  fertility,  the  strength  of  the  germs 
and  the  vitality  of  the  chickens.     The  chemist  may  not  be  able  to  find  it 


What   Is   An   Egg?  27 

ill  the  composition,  but  the  difference  is  there  nevertheless.  Hens  that  are 
closely  confined  to  limited  quarters  where  they  do  not  get  exercise  nor 
have  access  to  sunshine  and  fresh  air,  even  though  well  fed,  are  almost 
certain  to  produce  eggs  low  in  fertility  and  weak  in  vitality.  Over-fat 
hens  and  very  poor  hens,  if  they  lay  at  all,  are  certain  to  produce  eggs 
which  are  almost  devoid  of  the  life-giving  principles. 

While  forced  feeding  of  highly  stimulating  foods  during  Fall  and 
Winter  might  result  in  a  condition  of  nerve  exhaustion  during  the  hatch- 
ing season  and  would  naturally  result  in  less  fertile  eggs,  it  does  not 
follow  that  just  because  hens  do  not  lay  during  Fall  and  Winter  that 
they  will  give  more  fertile  eggs  during  the  Spring.  Most  frequently  the 
hens  that  do  not  lay  during  the  Winter  have  not  been  properly  cared  for, 
they  being  either  too  fat  from  over-feeding  or  improper  feeding,  or  too 
poor  because  underfed.  The  fowl  that  lays  the  most  fertile  eggs  is  the 
one  that  is  in  the  best  health.  She  may  be  the  hen  that  has  laid  regularly 
for  a  long  period  of  time.  To  get  fertile  eggs,  open-air  exercise  and 
plenty  of  meat  and  green  food  are  necessary. 

The  proportion  of  males  to  females  in  the  breeding  of  flock  depends 
upon  the  breed,  also  upon  the  individual.  One  vigorous,  active,  prepotent 
male  will  give  greater  fertility  than  three  or  four  sluggish,  effeminate 
males.  I  have  known  almost  perfect  fertility  with  36  White  Leghorn 
females  to  one  male,  and  have  seen  almost  absolute  infertility  where  one 
male  ran  with  15  females.  Other  conditions  being  equal,  the  Mediter- 
ranean, Leghorns,  Minorcas,  etc.,  class  can  usually  be  mated  20  to  25 
females  to  one  male;  the  American  class  (Plymouth  Rocks,  Wyandottes, 
Javas,  etc.)  15  to  20  females  to  one  male;  Asiatic  (Cochins,  Brahmas,  etc.) 
10  to  15  females  to  one  male.  Where  fowls  are  kept  in  flocks  wTiich 
require  two  males  (for  instance,  40  or  50  Leghorn  females,)  it  is  better 
to  allow  only  one  of  the  males  at  a  time  with  the  flock.  The  other  one 
should  be  kept  in  a  coop  with  plenty  of  water,  grit  and  food  containing 
an  abundance  of  meat.  Two  males  running  together  in  the  same  flock 
dissipate  too  much  of  their  energy  in  fighting.  This  is  particularly  true  if 
they  are  in  limited  quarters.  Very  good  results,  huwever,  are  obtained 
by  allowing  one  male  to  25  females  where  fowls  run  together  in  flocks  of 
several  hundred  on  unlimited  range. 

The  shape,  size  and  color  of  the  egg  being  comparatively  constant  with 
individuals,  it  is  evident  that  like  other  characteristics  they  can  be  trans- 
mitted from  one  generation  to  another,  and  therefore  by  selecting  only 
eggs  of  a  certain  size,  shape  and  color  for  hatching,  their  characteristics 
become  fixed  so  that  a  strain  of  hens  will  be  developed  which  will  lay 
eggs  of  the  desired  type  with  great  regularity..  This  has  been  demon- 
strated in  my  own  experience,  where  for  years  we  have  used  only  eggs  that 
weigh  two  ounces  or  more,  of  perfect  shape,  pure  white  color,  for  hatching. 


28  The    Business    Hen. 

Each  year  the  percentage  of  hatchable  eggs  has  astonishingly  increased, 
and  the  number  of  eggs  which  would  have  to  be  thrown  out  because  of 
not  fulfilling  the  requirements  has  materially  decreased.  The  result  is  that 
the  average  size  and  beauty  of  the  egg  has  materially  increased  year  by 
year.  This  principle  was  strikingly  illustrated  during  my  boyhood  days  on 
the  old  farm,  where  my  aunt,  who  took  charge  of  the  hens  believed  that 
round  eggs  would  hatch  pullets  and  long  eggs  slightly  wrinkled  at  the 
small  end  would  hatch  cockerels.  For  years  she  would  select  the  round- 
est eggs  for  hatching,  with  the  result  that  year  .by  year  our  eggs  became 
rounder  and  rounder,  until  they  were  abnormally  so,  and  it  became  almost 
a  trade  mark  of  the  eggs  from  my  grandfather's  farm.  Of  course  the 
per  cent  of  pullets  continued  as  usual.  Wise  Mother  Nature  could  not  be 
thwarted  so  easily.  The  sex  of  an  egg  cannot  be  determined  by  its  shape 
or  by  any  other  external  conditions. 

It  is  well  to  select  only  perfectly  shaped  eggs,  uniform  in  color,  of 
good  texture  and  firm  shell,  neither  over  large  nor  very  small,  because  they 
will  be  more  apt  to  produce  chickens  that  lay  similar  eggs,  which  look 
better,  and  therefore  sell  for  a  higher  price,  and  which  also  hatch  more 
satisfactorily.  Eggs  which  differ  in  size  get  different  degrees  of  heat  in 
the  incubators,  because  the  larger  the  egg  the  warmer  it  will  become,  it 
being  closer  the  source  of  heat  above.  The  more  uniform  eggs  are  in  tex- 
ture of  shell  the  more  uniformly  they  evaporate  moisture.  Eggs,  like 
milk,  being  a  direct  secretion  of  the  blood,  are  affected  in  color,  flavor  and 
odor  by  the  foods  consumed. 

Keeping  eggs  weakens  their  vitality.  If  they  are  held  at  too  low  a 
temperature  the  chilling  injures  them.  If  they  are  kept  in  too  warm  a 
temperature,  development  begins.  Just  what  temperature  is  best  for  hold- 
ing eggs  for  hatching  is  not  known.  It  appears  to  be  between  55  and  65 
degrees  Fahrenheit.  Eggs  evaporate  moisture  very  rapidly  if  kept  in 
a  very  dry  room.  Therefore  they  should  be  kept  from  a  direct  draft  of 
air.  They  should  be  turned  daily  in  order  to  prevent  the  yolks  rising 
to  the  surface  and  adhering  to  the  shell,  in  which  case  the  vitelline  mem- 
brane may  become  ruptured  when  the  egg  is  turned.  Eggs  should  prove 
fertile  within  three  or  four  days  after  the  male  has  been  introduced  to  the 
flock.  They  should  be  fertile  with  the  second  egg  after  copulation  takes 
place  and  may  be  fertile  with  the  first  egg. 


CHAPTER  V. 
Hatching  the  Egg. 

WHAT  IS  INCUBATION?— A  barnyard  hen  of  the  larger  breeds 
will,  if  left  to  herself  with  enough  food,  "steal  her  nest."  She  finds  some 
secluded  place,  makes  a  shallow  hole  and  lays  a  clutch  of  eggs  in  it.  She 
then  sits  on  the  eggs,  leaving  them  at  intervals  for  water  and  food  and 
to  dust  herself,  until  they  are  hatched.  It  is  sometimes  asked  why  such 
a  hen,  operating  in  this  crude  way,  will  hatch  more  and  stronger  chicks 
than  an  incubator,  or  than  most  hens  when  put  on  selected  eggs  in  a  com- 
fortable nest.  The  chicks  from  the  stolen  nest  are  generally  uniform  be- 
cause they  are  likely  to  be  all  from  one  hen;  thus  they  are  sure  to  be 
much  alike,  and  more  likely  to  be  fertile  than  when  picked  from  a  flock. 
They  are  strong  because  the  hen  works  for  her  food,  roaming  about  the 
farm  picking  up  a  variety,  and  exercising  so  as  not  to  be  too  fat  or  dumpy. 
Left  to  herself,  too,  the  hen  lays  eggs  in  her  stolen  nest  just  when  they  are 
most  likely  to  be  suitable  for  hatching.  Thus  she  sets  an  example  in  feed- 
ing, selection  and  breeding.  In  trying  to  breed  improved  stock  man 
attempts  to  imitate  the  barnyard  hen,  and  at  the  same  time  increase  the 
number  of  her  eggs  and  make  sure  of  her  mating.  In  the  same  way  when 
we  build  an  incubator  we  try  to  imitate  the  hen  by  putting  the  eggs  in 
a  box  in  a  chamber  where  they  may  be  surrounded  by  the  conditions  of 
heat  and  moisture  which  the  hen  puts  around  her  eggs  in  the  nest. 

A  broody  hen  is  fat.  The  organ  of  incubation  is  developed.  This  organ 
is  a  network  of  veins  on  the  lower  part  of  the  hen's  body.  At  the  time 
of  hatching,  that  is,  when  the  hen  becomes  "broody,"  these  veins  enlarge 
and  carry  more  blood,  so  that  a  warmer  surface  is  presented  to  the  eggs  than 
would  be  the  case  if  the  hen  were  not  broody.  The  hen's  feathers  permit 
a  slight  circulation  of  air  to  the  eggs,  and  some  little  moisture  comes  from 
her  body.  The  hen  leaves  her  nest  at  times,  or  stands  up  and  shakes 
herself,  thus  cooling  the  eggs.  She  also  moves  the  eggs  about  from  time 
to  time.  It  is  a  question  whether  the  hen  does  this  because  she  knows  it 
is  necessarj',  or  because  she  tries  to  arrange  the  eggs  so  as  to  make  the 
nest  most  comfortable.  In  artificial  incubation  it  has  been  found  best  to 
turn  the  eggs  frequently,  the  chief  reason  given  for  doing  so  being  that  if 
the  eggs  are  not  turned  the  germs  may  dry  fast  to  the  shells  early  in 
the  hatch. 

In  artificial  incubation  we  attempt  to  surround  the  eggs  with  temper- 
ature and  moisture  such  as  the  hen  gives  them  from  her  body.  Under 
the  influence  of  a  steady,  gentle  heat  the  life  in  the  egg  develops  rapidly 
and  in  perfect  order.     An  incubator  cannot  think,  and  the  best  of  man's 


30  The    Business   Hen. 

thoughts  can  hardly  equal  the  instinct  of  the  hen.  Yet  after  long  experi- 
ence and  observation  a  poultryman  comes  to  acquire  an  instinct  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  the  hen.  We  do  not  attempt  to  give  here  a  scientific 
essay  on  incubation.  A  few  practical  rules  follow,  but  we  know  from 
experience  that  this  is  one  of  the  operations  that  a  man  must  grow  into 
by  his  own  study  and  practice.  Some  natural  mechanics  have  made  incu- 
bators of  their  own  which  give  fair  satisfaction,  but  our  advice  is  to  buy 
a  good  one  rather  than  to  tinker  with  a  home-made  afifair.  There  is  no 
other  machine  now  offered  for  sale  which  is  so  fully  explained  in  the 
catalogues  of  manufacturers,  and  one  can  hardly  go  wrong  if  he  will 
follow  the  advice  given  him  there.  It  is  a  wise  plan,  when  starting  with 
an  incubator,  to  set  a  hen  and  compare  the  eggs  under  her  with  those  in 
the  incubator.  Wliere  this  is  done  day  by  day  we  get  a  clearer  idea  of  the 
way  our  incubator  eggs  should  "test."  While  an  egg  can  be  tested  by 
an  expert  by  holding  it  up  in  a  dark  room  before  a  light,  it  is  better  foi 
the  beginner  to  obtain  a  "tester"  made  "for  the  purpose.  As  all  know,  the 
egg  is  tested  by  holding  it,  surrounded  by  a  dark  background,  before  a 
flame,  so  that  the  light  will  shine  through  it.  The  light  of  the  candle  or 
lamp  reveals  to  us,  in  the  egg,  what  the  X-Ray  does  in  the  human  body ! 

HATCHING  UNDER  HENS.— There  are  many  poultrymen  who  de- 
pend upon  hens  to  hatch  most  of  their  chicks,  in  spite  of  the  ease  with 
which  incubators  are  handled.  When  given  a  tair  chance  the  hen  does  not 
need  regulating.  The  hens  of  the  larger  breeds  lay  their  clutch  of  eggs  and 
then  show  by  their  actions  that  they  are  ready  to  sit.  Everyone  who  has 
handled  hens  knows  how  they  act  when  broody.  They  get  on  the  nest, 
ruffle  up  their  feathers,  come  as  near  as  they  can  to  growling  when  ap- 
proached, and  strike  with  their  bills.  The  whole  nature  of  the  hen  changes, 
and  if  she  be  given  a  comfortable  nest  with  the  eggs  that  she  can  cover 
with  her  body  she  will  usually  stay  by  them  until  they  are  hatched.  Mr. 
Cosgrove,  of  Connecticut,  gives  the  following  account  of  his  method  of 
handling  sitting  hens: 

"I  have  a  little  house  6  x  10  feet,  with  two  rows  of  nests,  one  row 
above  the  other;  the  ground  forms  the  bottom  of  the  lower  nests,  and  in 
the  upper  ones  I  put  a  large  shovelful  of  sifted  earth,  pushing  it  up  into 
the  corners  so  as  to  make  it  concave  enough  to  keep  the  eggs  together, 
but  not  too  much  so.  If  the  center  is  an  inch  lower  than  the  outside  edge, 
it  is  sufficient.  A  board  six  inches  wide  by  10  feet  long  forms  the  front 
of  the  nests,  so  the  hens  can  step  into  them;  they  do  not  have  to  jump 
down  on  to  the  eggs. 

"The  earth  floor  of  the  house  dug  up,  and  the  stones  taken  out,  makes 
the  best  dust  bath,  and  a  feed  trough  and  water  pail  are  all  the  furniture 
required.  T  keep  feed  in  the  trough  all  the  time,  also  some  grit  and  oyster 
shells  in  one  end  of  it.    The  trough  is  made  with  a  cover  to  it  so  the  hens 


Hatching   the   Egg.  31 

can  stick  their  heads  in  to  eat,  but  cannot  soil  the  food.  Whole  corn 
is  the  main  feed,  but  I  give  some  wheat  with  it  once  or  twice  a  week  for 
variety.  Some  people  have  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  make  hens  sit  in 
any  place  except  where  they  have  been  laying,  but  if  the  change  of  place  is 
done  rightly  there  is  seldom  any  difficulty. 

"Don't  move  them  in  the  daytime.  Don't  take  them  by  the  legs  and 
carry  them  along  with  heads  handing  down  and  thrust  them  in  on  the 
nests,  as  I  have  seen  folks  do — carrying  three  in  each  hand — and  then 
expect  them  to  stay  put. 

"I  save  the  unhatched  eggs  from  my  incubators  to  put  in  nests  to  try 
the  hens  on.  Let  the  hen  sit  at  least  two  days  on  her  own  nest  before  you 
move  her  where  you  want  her  to  sit;  then  after  dark  take  the  hen  and 
put  her  gently  on  the  eggs.  She  will  usually  settle  down  on  them  at  once 
and  stay  on  all  night,  but  may  come  off  in  the  morning  and  stay  off  all  day, 
but  will  generally  go  on  the  nest  at  night,  and  then  it  is  safe  to  put  the 
good  eggs  under.  If  she  does  not  go  back  on  the  nest  at  night,  it  is  no 
use  trying  that  hen  any  further.  It  doesn't  pay  to  try  to  confine  the  hen 
on  the  nest;  a  hen  is  feminine,  and  if  she  won't,  she  won't. 

"My  sitting  house  has  three  windows  facing  the  nests,  which  make  it  too 
light,  so  I  tack  grain  bags  over  the  windows,  as  hens  like  a  secluded  place 
better.  I  give  all  sitting  hens  a  thorough  dusting  with  insect  powdei 
and  scatter  some  in  the  nests  before  setting,  and  again  about  a  week  before 
they  are  due  to  hatch.  When  the  hens  are  sitting  it  is  necessary  to  look 
at  them  once  or  twice  a  day  to  see.  that  all  the  nests  have  hens  on,  for 
sometimes  two  get  on  the  same  nest,  but  don't  be  discouraged  if  the  eggs 
are  cold;  they  will  usually  hatch  just  as  well;  it  will  delay  the  hatch,  that 
is  all. 

"Of  course  hens  may  be  allowed  to  sit  where  they  have  been  laying,  by 
marking  the  eggs  put  under  them,  and  removing  the  eggs  laid  to  them 
every  da3%  but  there  is  considerable  risk  of  broken  eggs,  also  that  the 
sitter  may  be  driven  off  and  go  on  some  other  nest.  In  some  cases  the 
nests  in  the  'sitting  room'  are  made  double;  that  is,  they  are  deep,  with 
a  partition  at  the  center.  The  eggs  are  put  in  the  rear  part.  The  hen 
may  if  she  likes  get  off  the  nest  and  come  in  front.  Thus  a  hen  that  is 
tired  of  sitting  is  less  likely  to  break  her  eggs.  The  nests  are  sometimes 
closed  with  a  gate,  so  that  the  hen  is  shut  in,  being  let  out  once  a  day  for 
a  few  minutes  to  eat  and  drink  and  dust." 

Hens  of  the  larger  breeds  will  sometimes  remain  broody  for  three 
months.  They  will  frequently  hatch  out  two  and  three  broods  in  succes- 
sion— the  chicks  being  taken  away,  and  put  in  a  brooder.  Where  a  number 
of  hens  are  set  together  it  is  a  good  plan  to  test  the  eggs  as  we  do  those  in 
an  incubator.  By  taking  out  the  infertile  eggs  we  can  put  what  is  left 
under  part  of  the  hens  and  start  the  others  on  a  new  lot. 


32  The   Business   Hen. 

BREAKING  UP  A  BROODY  HEN.— With  the  larger  breeds  the 
sitting  hen  becomes  a  nuisance  in  May  or  June.  They  often  become 
broody  too  late  in  the  season  to  rear  chicks  for  Fall  laying.  To  "break 
them  up"  we  must  remember  that  they  are  in  a  feverish  condition,  with 
the  blood  vessels  on  the  lower  part  of  the  body  enlarged.  They  must  be 
"cooled  off."  Do  not  duck  them  in  water  or  tie  them  by  one  leg  or  put 
them  in  a  box  with  sharp  spikes  in  the  bottom.  Make  a  "hen  jail"  at  the 
side  of  the  henhouse — raised  above  the  floor.  Have  the  bottom  of  slats, 
so  that  the  air  circulates  under  the  hen.  Put  her  there  with  water  and 
grass,  but  no  corn.  She  will  soon  find  that  there  are  no  chickens  to  be 
hatched  out  of  a  slat,  and  she  will  keep  off  the  nests  where  the  other  hens 
lay.  This  is  far  better  than  putting  the  hen  in  a  yard  with  a  young  dog 
or  a  lively  cockerel  to  chase  her  about.  As  the  broody  hen  is  fat  do  not 
feed  her  on  the  fattening  foods. 

ARTIFICIAL  INCUBATION.— It  is  well  to  start  the  season's  labors 
with  a  firm  faith  in  our  incubators,  and  that  success  or  failure  in  results 
rests  with  ourselves. 

1.  The  hens  whose  eggs  we  use  for  hatching  should  be  healthy  young 
fowls,  and  best  returns  are  generally  received  where  a  single  strain  is 
employed.  In  a  mixed  lot  the  shells  are  of  all  grades  in  thickness;  con- 
sequently some  are  apt  to  dry  down  too  much,  and  others  not  enough.  For 
example,  the  White  Wyandotte  eggs  require  much  more  ventilation  than 
do  White  Leghorns. 

2.  The  eggs  should  be  set  on  the  small  end  and  turned  half  over  every 
24  hours.  They  should  be  placed  in  a  cool,  dry,  clean,  sweet-smelling 
room.  Hens'  eggs,  if  carefully  looked  after,  will  keep  for  hatching  pur- 
poses three  to  four  weeks.  During  the  cool  Spring  days  duck  eggs,  under 
same  conditions,  will  keep  10  days  to  two  weeks.  When  warm  weather 
sets  in  they  spoil  very  quickly ;  in  from  four  days  to  a  week's  time. 

As  a  rule  incubators  do  best  in  a  clean,  well  ventilated  cellar,  because 
the  temperature  is  likely  to  run  more  even,  thus  giving  the  operator  less 
trouble,  and  also  because  the  atmosphere  contains  a  moist,  humid  element, 
favorable  to  the  growth  and  development  of  the  chicks  in  embryo. 

The  instructions  regarding  setting  up  and  operating,  which  accompany 
the  incubator,  cannot  be  too  carefully  studied  and  followed.  There  is 
usually,  however,  a  clause  concerning  ventilation  and  moisture,  which 
necessarily  leaves  much  to  the  operator's  good  sense  and  judgment,  because, 
owing  to  the  difference  in  climatic  conditions  in  our  country,  which  tend 
to  affect  the  results  in  artificial  incubation,  no  cut  and  dried  rule  can  be 
laid  down  or  successfully  applied. 

Where  these  conditions  are  normal,  general  directions  on  these  heads 
are  all  that  the  operator  requires;  but  in  low-lying  sections  and  near  lakes 
or   large   rivers,   where   fogs   or   humidity   prevails,   very   little  additional 


Hatching    the   Egg.  33 

moisture,  and  considerable  ventilation  are  necessary ;  while  in  a  rarificd 
atmosphere,  elevated  or  mountainous  localities,  a  very  considerable  amount 
of  moisture  is  necessary  to  secure  even  a  fair  hatch,  and  not  nearly  so 
much  ventilation.  The  tea  kettle  or  the  drying  of  the  roads  are  good 
guides  for  evaporation  and  moisture.  Also,  in  the  same  locality,  there 
are  times  when  a  change  of  method  is  necessary,  as  in  sustained  droughts, 
when  high,  dry  winds  prevail,  or  during  a  long  wet  season,  etc.  If  the 
machine  is  run  in  a  living  room,  more  moisture  is  needed,  and  in  every 
case  good  care  should  be  taken  to  keep  the  chicks  well  supplied  with  pure, 
fresh  air,  by  ventilating  the  room  thoroughly  at  least  twice  a  day,  night 
and  morning,  when  the  eggs  are  being  turned.  Kerosene  odors  and 
exhausted  air  are  very  injurious  to  the  hatch. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  climate  and  atmospheric  condi- 
tions must  be  studied  and  the  rig  managed  accordingly.  If  the  chicks 
hatch  small  and  look  shrunken,  and  the  inner  skin  sticks  to  some  and  outer 
skin  is  thick  and  leathery,  they  had  insufficient  moisture  and  too  much 
ventilation.  If  they  simply  failed  to  break  the  shell,  the  birds  were  weak- 
ened by  insufficient  ventilation,  and,  perhaps,  also,  a  wrong  temperature. 
If  the  birds  are  surrounded — "swim"^ — in  a  gluey,  watery  substance,  too 
much  moisture  was  applied.  If  they  come  out  ahead  of  time,  the  temper- 
ature was  run  too  high;  if  they  run  over  time,  it  was  too  low.  If  during 
the  hatch,  through  accident,  the  thermometer  registers  high  for  several 
hours,  the  hatch  will  probably  be  hurried  out  a  little,  while  if  it  is  low, 
especially  during  the  first  five  days,  the  hatch  will  drag  along,  even  four 
days  after  due.  It  is  best  to  hang  on  to  the  eggs  until  hope  is  utterly  dead. 
A  bath  in  tepid  water  helps  such  cases  quite  a  bit,  and  those  that  "wiggle" 
are  apt  to  come  out;  give  them  time,  and  with  care  they  will  develop 
usually  into  healthy  chicks. 

Regarding  testing  of  eggs,  and  growth  of  air  cells,  dark-colored  shells 
do  not  show  fertility  very  plainly  until  the  hatch  is  about  half  over. 
Usually  in  five  days  the  germ  is  quite  plain  in  white  or  thin-shelled  eggs, 
but  it  is  well  to  place  the  doubtful  ones  together  and  give  them  one  more 
chance.  About  two  days  before  exclusion  at  the  final  test,  all  that  do  not 
show  full  development  should  be  discarded.  A  very  little  experience  will 
enable  the  operator  to  detect  the  little  black,  spider-like  form  with  red 
pulses,  and  the  gradual  darkening  of  the  egg  as  development  progresses ; 
the  clear  beauty  of  the  infertile  egg,  and  wavy,  watery,  cloudy  appearance 
of  the  bad  one ;  the  red  ring  or  black  splotch  of  the  dead  germ. 

As  regards  the  growth  of  the  air  cell,  our  experience  is  that  no  com- 
bination of  circumstances,  in  our  section,  will  coax  them  to  enlarge  in 
the  regular  fashion  shown  in  books.  With  us,  two-thirds  of  the  drying 
down  is  done  the  last  week.  If  everything  has  gone  well,  the  eggs  dry 
down  during  those  last  few  days  about  right;  if  anything  has  gone  wrong 


34  The   Business   Hen. 

they  show  it  then,  either  by  drying  down  too  much,  or  not  enough. 
Therefore  there  is  no  need  to  worry  about  the  air  cell ;  it  will  take  care  of 
itself,  and  it  cannot  be  used  as  a  guide  for  the  application  of  moisture  or 
ventilation ;  as  it  opens  up  too  late  to  be  of  any  use  to  the  operator.  Also, 
if  the  chicks  are  vigorous,  they  will  kick  out  of  the  shell  with  quite  a 
small  air  space,  while  weak  birds  fail  to  escape  from  those  that  are  dried 
down  to  "regulation." 

It  is  best  to  trim  and  fill  the  lamps  in  the  morning,  and  regulate  the 
machine  then,  for  the  next  24  hours.  Never  touch  the  lamp  at  night. 
Turn  the  eggs  early. 

While  chicks  are  usually  all  out  of  the  shell  24  hours  after  the  first 
pip  is  noticed,  ducks  require  48  hours  to  finish  up  in.  We  say  "the  hatch 
is  over,"  and  are  ready  to  open  and  clean  up  when  most  of  the  birds  that 
we  see  are  fully  out  of  the  shell  and  dried  off.  If  partially  liberated  birds 
that  are  sticking  to  the  shell  at  some  point  can  be  found  at  just  the  right 
time — not  too  soon  or  too  late — they  can  be  saved.  Just  how  much  this 
sort  of  assistance  pays  it  is  difficult  to  say.  The  writer  helped  22  duck- 
lings out  once,  and  tied  a  red  string  to  the  leg  of  each ;  and  so  far  as 
one  could  keep  track'  of  the  gang,  they  survived  and  throve  with  the  best  of 
the  lot.  It  seems  well  therefore  to  give  the  little  fellows  any  chance  for 
life  that  we  can,  though  undoubtedly  the  best  way  is  to  "get  the  right  flop" 
on  managing  the  incubator  and  let  it  do  the  hatching. 

Just  before  "opening  up"  prepare  everything  for  a  quick  shift — an 
assistant,  pan  of  hot  water,  two  flannel  cloths,  and  let  the  temperature 
run  up  to  106  or  107.  Take  out  a  tray  and  clean  off  all  but  pipped  eggs, 
and  help  the  birds  out,  placing  them  on  the  wet  flannel  spread  on  the 
tray;  add  to  them  the  same  sort  of  eggs  from  the  other  tray.  Promptly 
replace  it  in  the  incubator,  and  the  other  flannel  steaming  hot  anywhere 
inside  the  rig.  Get  the  temperature  to  104^4  degrees  quickly  as  possible. 
A  few  hours  more  and  the  birds  will  probably  all  be  liberated.  If  a 
chipped  egg  has  a  live  chick  in  it,  you  can  hear  its  bill  tapping  on  the  shell 
if  you  place  it  to  your  ear. 

When  eggs  are  shipped  from  a  distance,  if  duck  eggs,  they  cannot  be 
got  into  the  incubator  or  under  the  hen  too  soon.  If  hen  or  turkey  eggs, 
they  should  be  placed  in  a  quiet,  cool  place  till  required,  but  24  hours  is 
long  enough  to  hold  them. 

Though  nearly  all  incubators  on  the  market  can  be  made  to  produce 
fair  hatches,  there  is  a  great  difference  in  the  amount  of  time  and  care 
needed  to  secure  them.  This  is  due  to  the  variety  of  contrivances 
employed  to  regulate  the  heat  in  the  egg  chamber.  The  incubator,  there- 
fore, of  most  value  to  the  operator,  is  the  one  that  has  the  most  simply 
constructed,  conservative  and  accurate  regulator.  There  are  machines 
that  will  hold  the  heat  steady  for  nearly  a  week  without  the  operator's 


Hatching    the    Egg.  35 

help,  and  at  considerable  fluctuation  in  outside  atmosphere.  The  need 
therefore  for  bobbing  up  and  down  nights  to  watch  refractory  hatches  is 
practically  past.  If- — through  any  accident — the  heat  runs  up  too  high, 
when  regulating  it  back  to  normal  figures,  it  helps  the  eggs  to  cool  with 
least  injury,  if  they  are  well  sprinkled  with  tepid  water.  The  incubator 
doors  can  be  left  open  till  the  thermometer  registers  90  degrees.  In  all 
cases  and  at  all  times  of  handling  them  drafts  should  be  avoided  over  the 
eggs,  and  sudden  jars. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CHICK.— We  have  seen  tnat  a  ferule 
egg  is  not  a  shell  packed  with  a  loose  and  unorganized  fluid.  It  contains 
definite  organs  and  the  material  required  to  feed  and  develop  them  into 
a  living  chick.  When  the  proper  heat  is  applied  in  the  incubator  or  under 
the  hen  life  begins  and  develops  rapidly  until  the  last  of  the  yolk  in  the 
egg  is  passed  into  the  body  of  the  well-formed  chick  before  it  leaves  the 
shell.  Before  12  hours  of  incubation  the  germ  begins  to  increase  in  size, 
and  so  rapidly  does  the  development  go  on  that  by  the  end  of  the  first 
day  what  is  to  be  the  head  of  the  chick  can  be  quite  plainly  seen.  A  few 
hours  later  the  tail  of  the  chick  is  apparent,  to  be  immediately  followed  b) 
a  tube  which  later  forms  the  heart.  About  40  hours  after  the  incubation 
begins  the  heart  begins  to  pulsate.  The  knowledge  of  this  rapid  develop- 
ment may  not  be  cheerful  reading  to  those  who  let  the  eggs  in  the  nest 
remain  for  a  day  or  two  under  a  sitting  hen,  but  by  the  fiftieth  hour  the 
heart  is  usually  so  well  developed  that  the  different  parts  may  be  seen,  and 
10  hours  later  a  vigorous  circulation  of  blood  has  begun.  Before  the  third 
day  has  ended  the  rapidly  forming  chick  is  able  to  turn  itself  around  and 
curve  into  definite  shape.  During  the  fourth  day  the  limbs  begin  to  show. 
They  grow  so  rapidly  that  by  the  thirteenth  day  scales  appear  upon  the  legs 
and  nails  upon  the  toes,  and  by  the  sixteenth  day  these,  as  well  as  the 
beak  become  firm  and  hard  and  the  chick  can  move  its  limbs.  By  the 
ninth  day  the  formation  of  bone  begins  and  goes  on  rapidly  until  the 
skeleton  is  well  formed  by  the  thirteenth  day.  The  feathers  begin  as 
little  sacs  by  the  tenth  day  and  develop  so  that  when  the  chick  makes  its 
way  through  the  shell  it  is  well  feathered.  Thus  this  wonderful  and 
rapid  development  goes  on  inside  the  egg.  We  must  remember  that  the 
power  of  the  delicate  machinery  which  produces  the  chicks  comes  from 
its  parents.  They  must  be  vigorous,  well  fed,  not  closely  related,  and 
able  to  exercise  freely  if  we  expect  vigorous  chicks.  It  may  seem  to  the 
novice  that  the  egg  hatches  itself  since  the  hen  is  usually  successful.  He 
will  change  his  views  after  trying  to  imitate  her  with  an  incubator,  and 
also  find  that  he  must  learn  the  hen  business  by  experience. 


CHAPTER     VI. 


The  Chicken's  Nurse. 

The  beginner  with  poultry  is  often  discouraged  over  losses  of  little 
chicks.  Where  incubators  are  used^  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  find 
hens  to  brood  the  chicks.  Hens  will  sometirnes  "sit"  long  enough  to  hatch 
two  broods.  Thus  several  hens  can  be  started  at  one  time  and  the  chicks 
put  together  in  a  brooder,  more  eggs  being  put  under  the  hens.  A  brooder 
is  a  chicken  nurse.  In  using  it  we  try  to  confine  warm  air  among  pieces 
of  soft  cloth — in  imitation  of  the  hen's  warm  body  and  soft  feathers. 

There  are  many  different  kinds  of  brooders,  the  best  of  them  so  arranged 
that  the  warm  air  will  come  from  above,  just  as  the  heat  of  the  hen  is 
above  the  chicks.  This  heat  may  come  from  hot  water  or  steam  pipes  run 
above  the  chicks,  or  from  kerosene,  lamps  or  gas  burners  below  them,  with 
the  heat  forced  above.  Unless  one  is  a  natural  mechanic  and  handy  with 
tools  he  should  buy  one  of  the  readymade  brooders.  We  would  not  advise 
one  to  try  to  make  an  incubator,  though  it  has  been  done,  but  it  is  possible 
to  make  a  brooder  that  will  keep  the  chicks  warm  and  provide  them  with 
fresh  air.  The  homemade  brooder  pictured  here  is  known  as  the  "Cos- 
grove"  and  is  described  as  follows.  It  will  give  an  idea  of  the  principles 
upon  which  a  hot-air  brooder  is  built. 

HOMEMADE  BROODER.— -"The  material  required  is  an  empty  one- 
pound  coffee  can,  a  two-pound  coffee  can,  a  piece  of  galvanized  sheet 
iron  24x36  inches,  with  a  hole  in  center  that  will  just  fit  the  one-pound 
can,  85  feet  of  seven-eighths-inch  matched  pine  and  six  feet  of  one- 
half-inch  pine.  Make  the  four  sides  of  the  box  nine  inches  high ;  that  will 
just  take  in  the  sheet  iron;  put  strips  %xl  inch  inside  the  box  two  inches 
below  top  edge,  for  the  sheet  iron  to  rest  on.  Take  the  one-pound  can 
and  cut  slits  a  half  inch  apart  all  around  the  top  edge;  cut  just  down  to 
where   the  bulge   in   the   tin   is    (about   one-half   inch),   put  the  slit   part 

through  the  sheet  iron  and  bend 
the  slit  pieces  down  flat  on  the 
iron.  The  bulge  prevents  the  can 
from  going  through  the  iron,  and 
if  the  slit  pieces  are  hammered 
down  tight  it  makes  nearly  an  air- 
tight job,  but  to  make  sure  that 
no  fumes  from  the  lamp  get  above 
.-  .  .2^:   .   .   •-  ^Yie  sheet  iron  it  is  better  to  solder 

Fig.  12.     HOMEMADE  BROODER.  't  tight.    Place  the  iron  in  the  box 


^. 

^^ 

^ 

^J>^^^ 

' 

•»'; 

*^^^^^ 

i 

1  ^""-^^.^^ 

The    Chicken's   Nurse. 


37 


and  nail  strips  on  top  of  iron, 
pressing  it  down  tight  on  the 
under  strips.  Nail  a  floor  of 
^-inch  stuff  on  top  of  box,  cut- 
ting a  hole  in  center  the  size 
of  the  two-pound  coffee  can; 
slit  the  can  like  the  other,  bend 
the  pieces  out  and  nail  on  top 
of  floor,  but  first  punch  the  top 
of  can  full  of  one-fourth-inch 
holes  to  let  the  hot  air  out. 
Then  bore   five  or  six  half-inch  Fig.  13. 

holes    on   the   two   ends    through  VAN  DRESSER  BROODER  HOUSE. 

side  of  box  between  sheet  iron  and  floor  of  brooder  to  let  in  air;  also 
four  holes  in  each  end  of  box  one  inch  in  diameter  near  bottom  edge  to 
let  in  p.ir  for  lamp.  The  rest  is  plain  carpenter  work.  Take  a  piece  nine 
inches  wide,  length  of  box  and  nail  or  screw  on  back  end,  letting  it  come 
down  only  an  inch  or  so  below  the  edge  of  box.  Then  nail  on  sides,  using 
two  2  x  2-inch  posts  30  inches  long  to  hold  ud  front  end.  I  line  the 
hover  part  with  one-half-inch  pine  fil^  inches  wide,  nailing  on  strips  at 
top  and  bottom  edge  one-half  inch  square,  so  that  it  makes  a  half-inch  air 
space  on  ends  and  back. 

"The  hover  cover  of  ^-inch  stuff  rests  on  this  lining  and  is  not 
fastened,  can  be  lifted  out  to  clean  out  brooder,  and  as  chicks  get  old 
enough  is  removed  entirely.  To  the  front  of  hover  cover  are  tacked 
strips  of  cloth  two  inches  wide,  reaching  the  floor.  Some  of  these  cloth 
strips  can  be  turned  up  on  top  of  cover  to  let  out  hot  air  on  warm  days. 
On  front  part  of  sides  bore  holes  as  shown  in  figure,  and  make  a  sliding 
cover  so  as  to  close  or  open  these  holes.  The  amount  of  air  entering 
the  half-inch  holes  above  sheet  iron  and  passing  over  chicks  is  governed 
by  tTiese  ventilators.  The  front 
half  of  roof  is  screwed  to  sides 
and  front  and  middle  bar.  The 
back  half  is  loose  and  projects 
three  inches  under  front  part; 
can  be  lifted  up  as  shown  by  dot- 
ted lines,  then  by  lifting  hover 
cover  the  floor  can  be  easily 
cleaned. 

"The    lamps    I    use    have    no 
chimneys.   Flame  of  lamp  should 

be  about  two  inches  below  level  Fig.  14. 

of    sheet    iron.      Cut    a    hole    in        cOLD  COUNTRY  BROODER  HOUSE. 


y®*,^ 

M 

III 

<C^:- 

5a 

The    Business   Hen. 

back  of  box  to  enter  lamp  and  have  a  slid- 
ing cover  to  it.  If  lamp  flame  burns  dim 
make  more  holes  in  side  of  box,  or  open 
slide  a  little.  Bore  five  or  six  half-inch  holes 
in  back  of  box  three  inches  below  sheet 
iron  to  let  lamp  fumes  out,  if  there  are 
any.  The  front,  virith  the  exception  of  a  six 
or  eight-inch  piece  nailed  to  posts  at  top, 
is  an  independent  piece  held  in  place  by 
buttons,  and  comes  out,  so  the  whole  in- 
MAPES'  BROODER  HOUSE,  .terior  can  be  got  at.  Make  a  frame  to  hold 
a  glass,  say  12  x  20  inches  (the  larger  the  better),  bevel  top  and  bottom 
edge  of  frame  and  nail  beveled  strips  at  top  and  bottom,  so  glass  frame 
will  slide  to  make  a  hole  as  large  or  small  as  you  want  to  feed  the  chicks 
through.  With  lamp  taking  a  wick  only  ^l-inch  wide  I  have  had  no 
difficulty  in  keeping  heat  in  these  brooders  at  90  to  100  degrees." 

BROODER  HOUSES.— We  do  not  attempt  to  give  details  for  a 
brooder  house.  No  one  should  try  to  build  a  house  without  visiting  one 
in  successful  operation.  The  principle  is  a  long,  low  house  divided  into 
pens,  in  each  one  of  which  is  a  brooder^ — that  is,  a  warm  box  with  hover 
cloths.  These  brooders  are  heated  by  lamps  or  by  hot-water  pipes  which 
run  through  the  house  so  as  to  pass  through  each  brooder.  Little  runs 
protected  by  wire  netting  are  made  so  that  the  chicks  can  run  out  on 
pleasant  days.  As  the  chicks  grow  larger  they  are  taken  from  this  large 
nursery  and  put  outdoors.  There  is  much  argument  between  the  advo- 
cates of  the  large  hrooder  house  and  those  who  prefer  what  Is  called  the 
colony  plan.  The  large  house  is  evidently  better  in  very  cold  weather, 
and  it  is  less  work  to  care  for  a  given  number  of  chicks  when  they  are 
all  in  one  house.  There  is  greater  danger  from  fire,  and  also  greater  dan- 
ger in  case  of  disease  among  the  flock,  'those  who  use  the  colony  plan 
build  a  small  warm  house  with  a  single  brooder  inside.  This  is  heated 
by  a  lamp  or  flame.  Gasoline  is  now  being  successfully  used  for  this 
purpose.  From  50  to  200  little  chicks  are  put  in  this  house,  and  the  heat 
kept  up  to  a  point  that  will  make  the  entire  house  comfortable.  The  chicks 
run  about  in  the  house,  and  except  in  very  cold  days,  do  not  crowd  under 
the  hover.  On  pleasant  days  they  are  let  out  and  run  on  the  grass.  When 
heat  is  no  longer  needed,  and  the  chicks  grow  large  enough,  the  brooder  is 
taken  out  and  little  roosts  are  put  in  so  that  the  young  birds  early  become 
used  to  a  house.  Fig.  13  shows  such  a  house  and  brooder  used  by 
Henry  Van  Dresser,  who  uses  these  houses  to  scatter  his  chicks  through 
the  orchards.  Fig.  14  shows  a  colony  brooder  house  used  at  the  Maine 
Experiment  Station,  where  the  Winters  are  very  cold  and  the  snow  very 
deep.     These  houses,  it  must  be  remembered,  have  nothing  inside  but  the 


The    Chicken's   Nurse. 


brooders.  Fig.  15  shows  a  house  used  by  O.  W.  Mapes,  and  Fig.  16  a 
house  used  for  young  White  Leghorns  in  New  Jersey.  These  houses  are 
designed  for  sheltering  the  chicks  when  they  are  taken  from  the  large 
brooder  house.  They  contain  a  brooder  at  first,  but  as  the  chicks  grow 
larger  roosts  are  put  in.  The  object  in  arranging  these  houses  is  to  give 
the  pullets  a  place  where 
they  may  have  heat  if 
needed,  and  at  the  same 
time  become  used  to  liv- 
ing in  a  house,  while 
having  plenty  of  exer- 
cise. As  we  shall  see, 
the  best  breeders  separ^ 
ate  the  j'oung  roosters 
early  and  put  them  by 
themselves.  It  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  that 
these  brooders  and 
brooder  houses  be  kept 
clean.  Dirt  and  vermin 
are  far  more  fatal  to  lit- 
tle chicks  than  to  grown- 
up hens.  We  must  remember  that  what  is  clean  to  one  man  may 
be  filthy  to  another.  The  little  chicks  are  weak  and  unable  to  care  for 
themselves  when  they  are  put  in  the  brooder.  Vermin  and  disease  live 
in  fllth  and  we  cannot  be  too  careful  about  cleaning  the  brooders  before 
a  new  lot  of  chicks  are  put  in.  The  brooder  should  be  made  so  that  it 
opens  readily.  When  a  brood  has  grown  so  that  the  chicks  can  be  taken 
away  the  brooder  should  be  opened  and  thoroughly  scrubbed  out  with  hot 
water.  The  corners  should  be  smeared  with  kerosene  and  the  hover 
taken  out  and  carefully  gone  over.  The  brooder  should,  if  possible,  stand 
open  to  the  sun  in  order  to  dry  thoroughly  before  the  new  chicks  are  put 
in.  These  things  are  emphasized  by  those  who  discuss  the  care  of  the 
little  chicks,  but  they  cannot  be  made  too  plain.  Those  who  have  seen 
little  chicks  suffer  from  damp  brooders  or  seen  them  suffocated  by  lamp 
fumes  or  chilled  when  the  lamp  burns  too  low,  or  wasted  when  it  goes  too 
high,  know  the  necessity  of  using  a  competent  chicken  nurse. 


Fig.   16.      NEW  JERSEY   BROODER  HOUSE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Care  of  the  Baby  Chick. 

Neither  brooder  nor  incubator  can  think.  Both  require  constant  atten- 
tion, or  the  eggs  or  chicks  may  be  too  hot  or  too  cold.  The  old  hen  looks 
after  her  brood,  and  sees  that  they  are  made  comfortable.  Man  must  be 
half  hen,  and  let  his  brooder  represent  the  other  half.  Even  when  the 
hen  hatches  the  chicks  she  cannot  be  expected  to  nurse  them  as  a  cow 
would  nurse  a  calf!  If  it  is  possible  to  give  it  the  chicks  will  do  better 
with  a  free  range  with  hen,  but  hawks,  rats  and  other  vermin  may  get 
too  many  of  the  little  ones.  If  these  pests  are  bad  the  hen  may  be  kept 
in  a  coop  and  a  frame  made  for  the  chicks  by  placing  four  12-inch-wide 
boards  on  edge  with  inch-mesh  wire  netting  over  the  entire  top.  This  gives 
the  chicks  a  run  and  protects  them.  Even  when  free  range  is  possible  the 
hen  should  not  be  given  entire  charge  until  the  chicks  are  strong  enough 
to  follow  without  being  tired  out.  Do  not  think  the  hen  can  scratch  a 
living  for  a  large  family  out  of  the  dirt.  Give  hen  and  chicks  when  at 
large  at  least  two  feeds  a  day  of  grain.  The  following  account  of  the 
care  given  the  hen  and  her  chicks  is  given  by  a  successful  poutlry  keeper:. 

HENS  AND  LITTLE  CHICKS.— "My  little  'setting'  house  has  nests 
for  IG  hens,  and  I  try  to  set  as  many  at  a  time  as  1  can.  When  the  chicks 
are  hatched  I  take  them  all  out  of  the  nests,  put  them  in  a  big  market 
basket  with  a  warm  woollen  cloth  to  cover  them,  then  selecting  the  hens 
that  seem  the  most  anxious  about  their  chicks  (for  the  mother  instinct 
varies  as  much  in  hens  as  in  human  beings,  some  even  picking  and  killing 
their  chicks  as  fast  as  hatched)  I  put  the  hens  in  little  "A"  coops  (see  Fig. 
17)  made  with  the  slats  perpendicular,  the  back  boarded  up,  the  upper  half 
of  back  hinged  to  lower  half  and  held  in  place  by  button  at  top.  Made 
in  this  way  the  hen  can  be  got  at  easily,  or  a  dead  chick  taken  out  of  the 
coop  without  difficulty,  and  on  a  cold  windy  day  the  wind  does  not  sweep 
through  coop,  chilling  the  chickens,  as  it  does  when  both  ends  of  the 
coop  are  slatted. 

"I  place  two  of  these  coops  about  10  feet  apart,  and  connect  them  by 
two  frames,  one  covered  with  inch-mesh  wire  netting  for  front,  and  back 
frame  covered  with  half-inch  matched  boards,  with  a  door  at  each  end, 
so  as  to  get  at  the  front  of  the  coops  with  feed  and  water.  As  the  top  part 
of  the  front  frame  is  made  of  a  board  a  foot  wide,  thus  more  than  half 
of  the  runway  is  kept  dry,  and  the  chicks  can  run  around  on  a  rainy  day 
without  getting  wet,  and  are  safe  from  hawks  and  'varmints.'  As  these 
frames  are  only  fastened  to  the  coops  by  a  nail  or  screw,  they  can  be 


Care    of    the    Baby    Chick.  41 


n 


taken  off  and  stored  away  in  a 

shed  in  the  Fall.     When  chicks 

are   hatched   in   cold    weather    I 

put   only   15   with   each   hen;    in 

May   or   last   of   April    I    put   20  Fig.  17.     HANDY  HEN  COOP. 

to  25  with  each  hen. 

"As  the  chicks  are  all  the  same  color  and  age,  the  hens  do  not  know 
their  own  chicks,  and  will  take  any  of  them.  The  chicks  remain  with  the 
hen  as  long  as  she  will  mother  them.  Sometimes  a  hen  will  pick  at  the 
chicks  and  drive  them  away,  as  soon  as  she  wants  to  lay  eggs  again ; 
others  will  go  to  laying  and  continue  to  brood  the  chicks.  I  let  them 
remain  with  the  chicks  as  long  as  they  will,  until  it  becomes  very  hot 
weather;  then  I  think  the  chicks  are  better  off  without  the  hen's  heat. 
I  feed  and  water  them  three  times  a  day,  and  as  soon  as  the  cockerels 
weight  two  pounds  each,  send  them  to  the  market  for  broilers,  reserving  all 
the  pullets  for  layers. 

"The  most  dangerous  enemy  of  chicks  in  this  locality  is  the  little 
Pigeon  hawk,  but  in  June  they  do  not  come  around  so  frequently,  and 
then  I  give  the  chicks  the  run  of  the  farm.  While  they  are  confined 
green  food  is  an  absolute  necessity  if  they  are  to  thrive  well,  and  lawn 
clippings  furnish  this  in  the  best  form,  especially  if  cut  in  the  early  morn- 
ing while  the  dew  is  still  on  the  grass;  I  tie  a  box  behind  the  lawn  mower 
and  the  clippings  fly  into  it,  so  it  is  no  trouble  to  collect  them.  Insect 
powder  sprinkled  on  the  hen  and  in  the  nest  freely  a  week  before  hatching 
usually  drives  away  all  lice.  In  hot  weather,  if  the  chicks  and  hens  run 
together,  the  chicks  will  get  lousy;  then  I  put  some  of  the  powder  mixed 
with  lard  on  their  heads,  if  they  have  head  lice,  and  sprinkle  it  on  their 
bodies  if  they  have  body  lice,  which  are  very  different  things.  Two  or 
three  times  in  tne  Summer  I  whitewash  the  coops  with  some  crude  carbolic 
acid  in  the  whitewash;  this  is  a  good  disinfectant  as  well  as  insecticide. 
Roosters  and  pullets  all  run  together  until  the  males  begin  to  pester  the 
females,  then  they  are  separated  and  the  roosters  confined,  the  pullets 
running  at  large  until  snow  drives  them  into  confinement. 

THE  BROODER  CHICK.~"With  the  first  pipping  of  an  egg  in  my 
incubator  I  start  the  lamps  under  the  brooders,  that  they  may  be  warmed  up 
and  regulated  to  90  degrees  before  the  chicks  are  ready  to  be  put  in.  The 
chicks  are  left  in  the  incubators  for  30  to  36  hours  after  hatching.  I 
cover  the  floors  of  brooders  with  sifted  sand  half  an  inch  deep,  laying 
in  a  supply  in  the  Summer  for 
that  special  use.  Taking  the 
chicks  to  the  brooder  house  in  a 
big  market  basket  with  a 
warmed      woollen      cloth      over         fig.  18.     UNFINISHED   HEN  COOP. 


42  The    Business    Hen. 

them  I  take  out  the  front  of  brooder  and  put  the  chicks  in,  and  now  they 
have  their  first  feed  of  hard-boiled  eggs,  chopped  very  fine  and  purposely 
scattered  on  the  clean  sand,  so  that  the  chicks  will  get  some  grit  in  their 
gizzards  with  their  first  meal.  Some  so-called  experts  do  not  favor  hard- 
boiled  egg,  but  my  experience  is  that  chicks  will  eat  it  in  preference  to 
anything  else  than  can  be  set  before  them.  I  always  save  all  the  infertile 
eggs  for  that   use. 

"With  the  first  little  'cheep'  that  shows  they  are  getting  too  cool  I  take 
a  board  half  an  inch  shorter  than  inside  width  of  brooder,  and  press  the 
chicks  all  back  through  the  cloth  strips  into  the  hover,  leaving  the  board 
leaning  against  hover  to  prevent  chicks  getting  out.  This  board  is  one 
and  a  half  or  two  inches  narrower  than  the  height  of  hover,  so  that  by 
turning  up  two  or  three  of  the  cloth  strips  there  will  be  sufficient  venti- 
lation. A  better  scheme  would  be  to  make  a  frame  and  cover  it  with 
fine  netting  to  keep  the  chicks  in.  I  feed  the  first  two  or  three  days  about 
once  in  three  hours,  the  third  day  making  the  feed  half  rolled  oats  (the 
common  oatmeal)  and  half  boiled  egg,  chopped  together.  The  chicks  will 
pick  out  all  the  egg  first,  but  if  you  do  not  overfeed  will  eat  the  oatmeal 
too.  To  have  the  chicks  continue  to  thrive,  overfeeding  must  be  avoided 
until  they  are  five  or  six  weeks  old.  After  they  are  a  week  old  we  bake 
a  cake  of  wheat  bran  and  cornmeal,  with  a  teaspoonful  of  baking  powder  to 
make  it  light,  and  feed  fine  cracked  corn  also.  As  soon  as  frost  gets 
out  of  the  ground  and  worms  come  up,  I  make  it  a  point  to  dig  some 
worms  nearly  every  day  for  them.  It  is  live  food,  and  the  tenderest  meat 
to  be  got,  but  the  chicks  will  be  made  sick  if  too  many  are  fed.  Green 
food  of  some  kind  is  almost  a  necessity  after  they  are  three  weeks  old.  I 
put  a  cabbage  head  in  tneir  yards,  and  they  will  eat  it  clear  to  the  stump. 

"In  from  three  to  five  days,  according  to  the  weather,  I  let  them  out  of 
the  brooder,  and  begin  educating  them  to  go  up  the  incline  and  into 
their  hover  when  cool.  Some  will  huddle  into  a  corner  and  get  chilled 
unless  watched  and  pushed  in.  After  four  or  five  weeks  they  ought  to  be 
left  outdoors,  if  the  ground  is  bare.  I  have  seen  chickens  in  a  neighbor's 
$300  brooder  house  gets  pale  and  so  weak  they  could  not  stand  up,  until  he 
put  brooders  and  all  outdoors  on  the  grass,  and  in  less  than  a  week  they 
were  all  right.  I  make  a  cheap  drinking  fountain  by  cutting  slits  in  a 
tin  can  half  an  inch  apart,  bending  in  the  slit  part,  filling  the  can  with 
water  and  placing  on  top  of  it  the  cover  of  a  larger  can,  then  by  inverting 
the  two  you  have  a  self  feeding  fountain  that  the  chicks  cannot  get  wet  in, 
and  that  it  may  not  get  upset  put  a  stone  on  top  of  the  can,  for  damp- 
ness in  a  brooder  is  to  be  most  carefully  avoided.  My  brooders  are 
cleaned  out  twice  a  week,  all  the  sand  scraped  out ;  then  with  a  fine  sieve 
sift  out  all  the  droppings  and  spread  the  sand  around  again.  If  it  is 
clean  sand,  not  earth,  it  may  be  used  many  times." 


Care    of    the    Baby    Chick.  '  43 

ANOTHER  METHOD.— At  the  Maine  Experiment  Station  the  fol- 
lowing plan  is  carried  out: — 

"We  make  bread  by  mixing  three  parts  cornmeal,  one  part  wheat 
bran,  and  one  part  wheat  middlings  or  flour,  with  skim-milk  or  water, 
mixing  it  very  dry,  and  salting  as  usual  for  bread.  It  is  baked  thor- 
oughly, and  when  well  done  if  it  is  not  dry  enough  so  as  to  crumble,  it  is 
broken  up  and  dried  out  in  the  oven  and  then  ground  in  a  mortar  or 
mill.  The  infertile  eggs  are  hard  boiled  and  ground,  shell  and  all,  in  a 
sausage  mill.  About  one  part  of  ground  egg  and  four  parts  of  bread 
crumbs  are  rubbed  together  until  the  egg  is  well  divided.  This  bread 
makes  up  about  one-half  of  the  food  of  the  chicks  until  they  are  five  or  six 
weeks  old.  Eggs  are  always  used  with  it  for  the  first  one  or  two  weeks, 
and  then  fine  sifted  beef  scrap  is  mixed  witn  the  bread. 

"When  the  chicks  are  first  brought  to  the  brooders,  bread  crumbs  are 
sprinkled  on  the  floor  of  the  brooder  among  the  grit,  and  in  this  way 
they  learn  to  eat,  taking  in  grit  and  food  at  the  same  time.  After  the 
first  day  the  food  is  given  in  tin  plates,  four  to  each  brooder.  The  plates 
have  low  edges,  and  the  chicks  go  on  to  them  and  find  the  food  readily. 
After  they  have  had  the  food  before  them  for  five  minutes  the  plates  are 
removed.  As  they  have  not  spilled  much  of  it,  they  have  little  left  to 
lunch  on  except  what  they  scratch  for.  In  the  course  of  a  few  days  light 
wooden  troughs  are  substituted  for  the  plates.  The  bottom  of  the  trough 
is  a  strip  of  half-inch  board,  two  feet  long  and  three  inches  wide.  Laths 
are  nailed  around  the  edges.  The  birds  are  fed  four  times  a  day  in  these 
troughs  until  they  outgrow  them,  as  follows :  Bread  and  egg  or  scrap 
early  in  the  morning;  at  half  past  nine  o'clock  dry  grain,  either  pin-head 
oats,  crushed  wheat,  millet  seed  or  cracked  corn.  At  one  o'clock  dry 
grain  again,  and  the  last  feed  of  the  day  is  of  the  bread  with  egg  or  scrap. 
Between  the  four  feeds  in  the  pans  or  trougns,  millet  seed,  pin-head  oats 
and  fine  cracked  corn  and  later  whole  wheat,  are  scattered  in  the  chaflf  on 
the  floor  for  the  chicks  to  scratch  for.  This  makes  them  exercise,  and 
care  is  taken  that  they  do  not  find  the  food  too  easily. 

"One  condition  is  made  imperative  in  our  feeding.  The  food  is  never 
to  remain  in  the  troughs  more  than  five  minutes  before  the  troughs  are 
cleaned  or  removed.  This  insures  sharp  appetites  at  meal  time,  and 
guards  against  inactivity  which  comes  from  overfeeding.  Charcoal,  granu- 
lated bone,  oyster  shell  and  sharp  grit  are  always  kept  by  them,  as  well 
as  clean  water.  Mangels  are  cut  in  slices,  which  they  soon  learn  to  pick. 
When  the  grass  begins  to  grow  they  are  able  to  get  green  foods  from  the 
yards.  If  the  small  yards  are  worn  out  before  they  move  to  the  range, 
green  cut  clover  or  rape  is  fed  to  them.  After  the  chickens  are  moved  to 
the  range  they  are  fed  in  the  same  manner,  except  that  the  morning  and 
evening  feed  is  made  of  corn  meal,  middlings  and  wheat  bran,  to  which 


44  -  The    Business    Hen. 

one-tenth  as  much  beef  scrap  is  added.  The  other  two  feeds  are  of  wheat 
and  cracked  corn.  One  year  we  fed  double  the  amount  of  scrap  all  through 
the  growing  season,  and  had  the  April  and  May  pullets  well  developed 
and  laying  through  September  and  October.  To  our  sorrow  they  nearly 
all  moulted  in  December,  so  that  month  and  next  were  nearly  bare  of  eggs." 

Still  another  simple  method  of  feeding  little  chicks  is  thus  described 
by  O.  W.  Mapes: 

"Our  hatch  of  chicks  is  doing  very  nicely  on  nothing  but  ordinary  oat 
flakes,  with  water  to  drink.  They  are  now  a  week  old.  and  the  mash  bal- 
anced ration  will  be  substituted  for  the  oat  flakes  during  the  next  week. 
We  got  240  chicks  from  this  hatch,  with  five  more  that  had  to  be  helped 
out  of  the  shell;  241  of  these  are  still  lively  and  bright  at  the  end  of  the 
first  week.  Not  a  bad  showing  for  the  oat  flakes,  which  are  very  handy 
to  feed.  This  hatch  was  from  360  eggs,  nearly  300  of  which  proved  to  be 
fertile.  The  incubator  door  was  closed  when  eggs  first  began  to  pip,  and 
not  opened  for  48  hours;  240  lively  chickens  were  then  removed  and  five 
more  were  helped  from  the  shells.  They  were  all  placed  in  two  brooders, 
given  grit  and  water  at  once,  and  a  few  oat  flakes  scattered  in  the  sand  on 
the  brooder  floor.  They  ate  but  little  the  first  day,  but  on  the  second  day 
and  since  they  have  been  ravenously  hungry  four  or  five  times  a  day.  I 
have  tried  to  give  just  what  they  would  clean  up  in  four  or  five  minutes. 
Some  days  they  have  been  fed  five  times  and  others  only  four.  There  is 
still  little  left  of  the  10-pound  bag  from  which  the  240  have  been  fed  the 
first  week  of  their  lives.  A  good  rule  is  to  begin  at  7  A.  M.  and  feed 
regularly  every  two  and  a  half  hours  until  6  P.;M.  for  the  first  two  weeks. 
After  that  they  can  soon  be  reduced  to  three  meals  a  day." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Young  Bird. 
THE  YOUNG  HEN.— When  the  hen  deserts  her  chicks,  or  when  the 
little  things  leave  the  brooders,  the  real  business  of  their  life  begins.  The 
object  is  to  push  the  young  pullet  rapidly  so  as  to  have  her  laying  as 
early  as  possible.  It  is  best  to  give  the  pullets  free  range  if  possible — 
the  exercise  develops  them,  and  they  do  well  to  hunt  part  of  their  food. 
An  orchard  with  reasonably  low  trees  is  a  good  place  for  pullets.  They 
will  do  little  harm,  and  benefit  themselves  if  they  can  roost  in  the  trees 
during  the  Summer  and  early  Fall.  They  should  be  fed  an  abundance  of 
about  the  same  food  that  gives  best  results  with  laying  hens.  As  the  nights 
grow  cool  the  pullets  should  be  put  in  the  houses  they  are  to  live  in  through 
the  Winter.  Where  pullets  run  at  large  and  roost  in  trees  it  is  hard  to 
break  the  tree  habit.  They  must  be  taught  to  come  into  an  enclosure  of 
some  sort.  We  can  throw  the  evening  feed  inside  the  house  and  shut  the 
door  while  the  pullets  are  inside  eating  their  supper.  If  given  a  small  yard 
one  wing  may  be  clipped.  It  is  an  advantage  to  get  the  pullets  into  Winter 
quarters  early.  It  is  a  great  change  from  their  life  of  freedom,  and  they 
will  require  considerable  time  to  settle  down  into  business.  They  should 
not,  of  course,  be  permitted  to  roost  in  trees  or  without  shelter  during  the 
cold  storms  of  Fall.  Before  being  housed  for  the  Winter  the  pullets 
should  be  dusted  with  insect  powder  and  the  houses  should  be  thoroughly 
cleaned.  If  we  put  vermin  in  with  the  pullets  we  can  hardly  expect  to 
get  rid  of  it  through  the  Winter.  We  must  depend  on  the  pullets  for  our 
earliest  eggs.  The  older  hens  moult  during  the  late  Summer  and  Fall, 
and  do  not  lay  until  they  have  recovered  from  this  change.  It  is  therefore 
necessary  to  force  the  pullets  steadily,  so  that  they  may  be  ready  for  lay- 
ing as  early  as  possible.  The  age  at  which  pullets  will  begin  to  lay  varies 
with  the  breed,  and  depends  much  upon  the  care  and  feeding.  Instances 
are  on  record  where  Leghorns  have  begun  to  lay  at  less  than  120  days 
old,  but  this  is  exceptional.  In  good  weather  chicks  are  weaned  at  from 
seven  to  10  weeks  old,  and  then  run  until  late  September  or  October.  We 
want  a  steady,  rapid  growth  on  the  pullet  if  we  expect  them  to  pay  for  their 
board  in  November  and  December.  In  order  to  have  pullets  laying  by 
November  1st  they  must  be  hatched  by  the  middle  of  April  and  pushed 
forward  v^nthout  stoppage.  If  they  can  be  made  to  begin  at  this  time  they 
have  a  full  year  for  laying,  while  if  they  do  not  start  until  January  the 
pullets  lose  two  of  the  most  profitable  months.  The  theory  that  if  a  pullet 
does  not  lay  at  her  best  during  her  first  year,  she  will  make  up  for  it  the 


46  The    Business    Hen. 

next  year,  does  not  work  out  in  practice.  Slie  should  be  started  early 
and  kept  at  it. 

A  hard  test  for  a  new  beginner  with  poultry  will  often  come  in  the 
Fall  when  the  pullets  demand  careful  and  heavy  feeding  and  yet  do  not 
lay  an  egg.  They  must  be  fed  heavily  with  a  fair  amount  of  meat  if  we 
expect  them  to  lay  early,  and  it  often  seems  like  money  thrown  away  when 
grain  is  high  and  funds  are  short.  It  is  a  good  time  to  dispose  of  old 
hens  and  surplus  roosters  while  the  pullets  are  "eating  their  heads  off," 
for  the  income  from  these  sources  helps  pay  the  grain  bill. 

THE  YOUNG  COCKEREL.— In  many  flocks  the  young  males  are  per- 
mitted to  become  a  nuisance.  They  often  run  at  large  until  Thanksgiving, 
eating  large  quantities  of  grain,  so  that  when  they  are  finally  killed  they 
have  cost  about  all  they  bring.  It  is  well  understood  that  pigs  or  cattle 
make  their  cheapest  gain  while  young.  We  have  found  the  cost  of  pro- 
ducing a  pound  of  pork  on  a  pig  weighing  125  pounds  considerably  less 
than  on  the  same  pig  when  it  is  fed  to  250  pounds.  The  same  is  true  of 
the  young  roosters  in  the  average  flock.  The  following  plan  of  feeding  is 
followed  at  the  Maine  Experiment  Station,  and  is  much  better  than  the 
old  method  of  letting  the  young  birds  run  at  large. 

"When  the  chickens  are  moved  to  the  field  the  sexes  are  separated.  The 
cockerels  are  confined  in  yards,  in  lots  of  about  100,  and  fed  twice  daily  on 
porridge  made  of  four  parts  of  cornmeal,  two  parts  middlings  or  flour,  and 
one  part  fine  beef  scrap.  The  mixed  meals  are  wet  with  skim-milk  or 
water — milk  is  preferred — until  the  mixture  will  just  run,  but  not  drop  from 
the  end  of  a  wooden  spoon.  They  are  given  what  they  will  eat  of  this  in 
the  morning  and  again  towards  evening.  It  is  left  before  th.em  until  all 
have  eaten  heartily,  not  more  than  hour  at  one  time,  after  which  the 
troughs  are  removed  and  cleaned.  The  cockerels  are  given  plenty  of  shade 
and  kept  as  quiet  as  possible. 

"We  have  found  our  chickens  that  are  about  100  days  old  at  the  be- 
ginning to  gain  in  four  weeks'  feeding,  from  1^  to  2%  pounds  each  and 
sometimes  more.  Confined  and  fed  in  this  way  they  are  meaty  and  soft, 
and  in  very  much  better  market  condition  than  though  they  had  been 
fed  generously  on  dry  grains  and  given  more  liberty.  Poultry  raisers  can- 
not afford  to  sell  the  chickens  as  they  run,  but  they  can  profit  greatly  by 
fleshing  and  fattening  them  as  described.  Many  careful  tests  in  chicken 
feeding  have  shown  that  as  great  gains  are  as  cheaply  and  more  easily 
made,  when  the  chickens,  in  lots  not  to  exceed  100,  are  put  in  a  house 
with  a  floor  space  of  75  to  100  feet  and  a  yard  of  corresponding  size, 
as  when  they  are  divided  into  lots  of  four  birds  each  and  confined  in 
latticed  coops,  just  large  enough  to  hold  them.  Four  weeks  has  been  about 
the  limit  of  profitable  feeding,  both  in  the  large  and  small  lots.  Chickens 
gain  faster  while  young.    In  every  case  birds  that  were  150  to  175  days  old 


The    Young     Bird.  47 

have  given  us  comparatively  small  gains.  The  practice  of  successful  poul- 
trymen  in  selling  the  cockerels  at  the  earliest  marketable  age  is  well 
founded,  for  chickens,  sold  at  Thanksgiving  are  expensive  products." 

Of  course  if  the  cockerel  is  to  be  kept  for  breeding  purposes  he  sliould 
not  be  handled  in  this  way,  or  he  would  be  of  little  use  as  a  breeder.  In 
that  case  he  should  be  fed  like  the  pullets  and  have  a  good  range,  so  that 
he  can  pick  up  frame  and  vigor  instead  of  fat.  We  can  never  obtain  strong 
and  profitable  laying  stock  by  breeding  from  lat  and  sluggish  parents. 

Experiments  with  young  birds  kept  in  small  coops  compared  with  a 
large  flock  kept  in  one  house,  with  a  suitable  yard,  show  that  the  latter 
method  pays  better.  The  birds  make  a  slightly  larger  gain,  and  there  is 
less  work  in  caring  for  them.  Where  skim-milK  can  be  had  it  is  very 
profitable  for  mixing  the  mash  for  the  young  roosters.  The  addition  of 
meat  meal  or  beef  scrap  to  the  cornmeal  increases  the  gain.  One  of  the 
most  important  things  is  to  begin  fattening  while  the  birds  are  young.  It 
was  found  that  when  young  roosters,  170  days  old,  were  started  at  fatten- 
ing over  eight  pounds  of  grain  mash  were  required  to  make  one  pound  of 
live  chicken.  With  similar  birds,  95  days  old,  fed  in  the  same  way, 
less  than  six  pounds  of  grain  were  needed  for  one  pound  of  live  gain. 

THE  BROILER. — We  must  repeat  the  caution  about  putting  either 
cockerels  or  pullets  into  filthy  houses.  No  bird  can  possibly  put  on  flesh 
while  covered  with  vermin.  When  fattened  as  described  the  young  rooster 
makes  a  fine  broiler.  Formerly  a  larger  bird  was  required  for  this  trade, 
but  of  late  years  a  smaller  carcass  has  found  a  market  and  is  in  demand. 
These  are  called  "squab  broilers."  Small  breeds  like  the  Le'ghorns  make 
excellent  broilers  when  penned  and  fed  on  soft  food  as  described  above. 
The  experience  of  O.  W.  Mapes  in  developing  this  trade  will  help  many 
who  wish  to  make  the  best  use  of  the  young  roosters.  The  average  young 
rooster  sold  alive  at  Thanksgiving  rarely  nets  the  grower  over  30  cents. 
We  may  fatten  them  so  that  they  will  bring  far  more  than  this,  and  save 
at  least  two  months  of  feeding. 

"It  is  quite  a  tedious  job  to  pick  50  broilers  nicely,  without  tearing  the 
skin.  In  picking  squab  broilers  it  is  more  difficult  still.  I  stepped  into  a 
store  in  New  York,  a  couple  of  years  ago,  where  game  and  poultry  are 
made  a  specialty,  to  look  at  some  squab  broilers  I  saw  hanging  in  the 
window.  The  proprietor  told  me  that  all  his  poultry  must  be  dry  picked, 
as  the  eye  of  his  customers  had  to  be  pleased  as  well  as  the  palate.  This 
was  in  December,  and  I  happened  to  have  a  lot  of  chicks  at  home  about 
the  right  size.  He  named  a  price  per  pair,  which  amounted  to  about  60 
cents  per  pound,  if  I  would  dress  them  as  nicely  as  the  ones  he  showed 
me.  One  of  our  local  butchers  pretends  to  be  an  expert,  having  worked 
at  it  in  the  West,  and  he  promised  to  help  me  out.  I  took  him  down  a 
few,  but  he  tore  them  so  badly  that  he  soon  gave  up  in  disgust.    Nothing 


48  The    Business    Hen. 

daunted,  I  took  them  home  again,  and  we  pegged  away  at  it  ourselves.  If 
those  who  are  looking  for  profitable  employment  in  Winter  for  farm  help 
can  succeed  in  raising  a  lot  of  broilers  to  be  picked  in  Winter,  there  will 
be  no  lack  of  employment.  We  do  not  pretend  to  know  how  to  do  it 
quickly  yet,  but  we  can  do  it  nicely,  and  sell  them  for  top  quotations  or 
more.  We  are  open  for  suggestions  from  those  who  know  how  to  do  it 
quickly.  The  first  thing,  of  course,  is  to  have  good  plump  birds.  They 
should  have  yellow  skin  and  legs.  Deprive  them  of  food  at  least  12  hours 
before  killing,  so  that  the  crop  will  be  empty.  Hang  the  birds  up  by  both 
feet,  and  bleed  by  opening  mouth  and  cutting  main  artery  of  neck,  at  base 
of  tongue.  It  is  important  to  draw  all  the  blood,  or  it  may  settle  under 
the  skin  where  each  feather  is  pulled,  discoloring  the  skin.  Pull  large 
wing  and  tail  feathers  first,  then  smaller  feathers,  and  finally  the  pin 
feathers.  There  are  spots  on  each  wing  and  on  the  breast,  where  the  skin 
tears  very  easily.  Great  care  must  be  exercised  at  these  points.  Aside 
from  this,  it  seems  to  be  simply  a  case  where  nimble  fingers  count.  Our 
best  pickers  stiTI  require  from  15  to  18  minutes  for  either  a  squab  broiler  or 
a  two-pound  broiler.  Immerse  in  ice  water  just  as  quickly  as  feathers 
can  be  removed.  This  removes  animal  heat  quickly  and  prevents  dis- 
coloration of  the  abdomen.  When  ready  for  shipment,  remove  from  ice 
:vater,  and  pack  in  pounded  ice.  We  wrap  the  heads  of  our  S.  C.  Whitp 
Leghorn  cockerels  in  a  neat  paper  before  packing.  This  adds  to  the 
attractive  appearance  of  the  shipment.  The  squab  broilers  should  weigh 
12  to  14  ounces  each.  They  are  used  by  the  wealthy  buyers,  and  demanded 
just  at  the  time  when  they  are  hardest  to  produce.  If  eggs  that  are  laid 
in  November  and  December  can  be  successfully  converted  into  chickens, 
they  are  sure  to  sell  for  big  prices." 


CHAPTER   IX. 

The  Hen's  House. 

Men  build  various  kinds  of  houses  for  their  own  use.  Some  are  con- 
venient and  comfortable;  others  are  never  satisfactory.  If  we  study  100 
desirable  houses,  we  find  that  they  all  agree  in  one  thing.  They  are 
planned  to  meet  the  needs  of  people  with  definite  habits  and  purposes.  So 
with  poultry  houses,  the  breed,  conditions  of  feeding,  climate,  size  of 
flock  and  purse,  and  other  matters  which  concern  the  owner  alone  must 
be  considered.  Therefore,  without  trying  to  lay  down  any  definite  rules 
for  poultry  house  building  we  give  suggestions  from  those  who  have 
apparently  solved  the  problem   for  their  own  conditions. 

THE     ESSEN- 
TIAL      PRINCI-        .-  ^  ^-^        .  ^-^^—^^        ,~^^ 
PLES.  — On      the 
White     Leghorn 
farm   of   White    & 

Rice  the  following  ^  

rules    of    house  - ,, -^^^^__„^^-,^„-, 

building     are     fol- 
lowed.    This  farm  biu.   19.     WHITE  &  RICE'S  HEN  HOUSE, 
is    30    miles    north 
of  New  York: 

"The  three  essentials  in  building  a  poultry  house  are  comfort,  con- 
venience and  cost,  in  their  order.  Comfort  should  be  first,  for  the  reason 
if  the  hens  are  not  comfortable  no  amount  of  work  and  feed  can  make 
them  lay  in  the  Fall  and  Winter  when  the  high  prices  of  eggs  make  poultry 
keeping  so  profitable.  Then  comes  convenience.  Have  things  just  as 
handy  as  you  possibly  can,  for  you  will  find  when  you  keep  a  thousand 
and  more  hens  that  having  houses  handy  to  feed,  water  and  clean  will 
save  many  days'  work  in  the  course  of  a  year.  One  hour  a  day  means  over 
one  month  in  a  year.  Last  of  all  comes  the  bugbear  of  so  many,  cost. 
Cost  does  not  spell  comfort  or  even  convenience.  There  are  many  expen- 
sive poultry  houses  that  are  both  uncomfortable  and  unhandy.  A  hen  nfieds 
five  square  feet  of  floor  space,  and  to  keep  her  comfortable  in  cold  weather 
we  must  build  the  house  low  so  she  won't  have  to  warm  up  an  unnecessary 
air  space,  but  don't  get  it  so  low  that  you  break  your  own  head  when 
caring  for  the  hens.  Very  good  dimensions  for  a  single  house  are  12  x  15 
feet,  seven  feet  high  in  front  and  four  in  the  rear. 

"The  floor  should  be  raised  six  inches,  with  stones  and  a  good  cement 
floor  put  on  that,  making  it  proof  against  dampness  and  rats,  two  of  the 


•50  The    Business    Hen. 

trials  poultrymen  are  heir  to.     The  sills 

and  roof  timbers  should  be  3   x  4-inch 

hemlock  or  spruce,  and  2  x  3-inch  stuff 

is  heavy  enough  for  all  else.    The  siding 

and   roof  boards  may  be   of  any  cheap 

lumber  that  is  dry  and  free  from  loose 

knots.      Cover   the    roof  with    three-ply 

tarred  paper  and  a  coat  of  roofing  ce- 

„„,,^,„  ,.^  "  ment   or  paint.     A   modification   of  the 

SWINGING  ROOST  AND  NEST.  ,  ,  ,         •      .,       l     .    /  t- 

colony  house  plan  is  the  best   (see  Fig. 

19).     Building  six  houses  together  makes  it  more  convenient  to  care  for 

the  hens,  is  warmer  and  costs  less  than  single  houses,  while  the  flock  is 

none  too  large  to  run  together  in  the  Summer.     Strong  unbleached  muslin 

makes  good  partitions  in  such  a  house.     It  is  also  used  a  great  deal  for 

windows,  being  warmer  than  glass  in  Winter  and  cooler  in  Summer.    The 

only  thing  against  it  is,  it  does  not  let  in  quite  as  much  light  on  a  dark, 

cloudy  day  as  the  glass  will,,  but  where  they  have  very  cold  Winters  it  is 

the  best  thing   to   use. 

"Have  the  interior  of  your  houses  as  simple  as  possible  for  the  sake  of 
cleanliness.  The  simplest  way  is  to  make  your  nests  under  the  roosts  and 
suspend  the  whole  device  from  the  roof.  Then  there  is  nothing  to  bother 
cleaning  the  floor,  and  no  cracks  between  roosts  and  side  walls  to  harbor 
mites  and  trouble.  For  a  house  this  size  you  would  want  a  platform 
six  feet  long  and  three  feet  wide  with  three  perches  on,  and  a  row  of 
nests  underneath  (see  Fig.  20).  A  shell  or  grit  box,  made  like  Fig. 
21,  is  fastened  to  the  wall  so  it  is  easily  removable.  The  dust  box,  and 
water  basin,  complete  the  furnishing  of  the  house.  The  scratching-shed 
house  is  particularly  adapted  to  breeding  stock,  and  is  a  little  more  expen- 
sive than  the  plans  given  here,  but  where  you  want  the  best  results  from 
your  breeders  it  is  worth  the  extra  cost.  In  Fig.  19  you  notice  the  windows 
are  low  and  should  be  made  of  muslin  tacked  on  stiff  frames,  the  whole 
hinged,  making  a  door  when  you  wish,  and  always 

should  be  open  when  the  weather  permits.     A  six-  i!!lll'>Wii';!'''3'  i, 

section  house  would  be  be  90  feet  long,  accommo- 
dating over  200  hens,  and  should  not  cost  over 
$150  complete  if  built  on  this  plan.  It  will  be  so 
comfortable  and  convenient  that  with  good  feed 
and  care  you  cannot  fail  to  make  poultry  keeping 
profitable." 

COI.D-COUNTRY    HOUSE.— Fig.    22    shows       ^' 
a  section  of  the  long  poultry  house  at  the  Maine 
Experiment  Station.    This  is  located  in  a  very  cold  Pi,j,  -^x,      ~ 

country,    and   great   pains   are  taken  to   make   the  SHELL  AND  GRIT  BOX. 


I 

It' I 


The    Hen's    House. 


hens  comfortable.  This  house  is  14  feet 
wide  and  150  feet  long.  The  back  is  5^ 
feet  high  and  the  front  six  feet  eight  inches. 
The  ridge  is  nine  feet  from  the  floor.  Fig 
23  shows  the  interior  fixtures  of  one  room, 
it  being  20  feet  wide.  In  this  space — 20  x 
14  feet — 50  hens  are  kept.  The  house  is 
boarded,  papered  and  shingled  on  roof  and 
walls.  The  rear  wall  behind  the  roosts  and 
four  feet  of  the  roof  above  are  ceiled  on 
the  inside  of  the  studding  and  plates,  and 


Fig.  -z-l. 
COLD  COUNTRY  HOUSE. 
the  space  between  packed  hard  with  dry  sawdust.  As  will  be  seen  from 
the  picture,  each  room  of  this  house  has  two  12-light  windows  screwed 
,on  to  the  front.  The  space  between  these  windows,  eight  feet  by  three,  is 
covered  with  wire  netting.  The  lower  part  being  boarded  prevents 
the  wind  from  blowing  directly  upon  the  hens.  During  stormy  days  and 
cold  nights  a  curtain  consisting  of  a  light  frame  covered  with  10-ounce 
duck  swings  down  in  front  of  the  wire  and  covers  it.  The  picture  shows 
how  this  curtain  frame  swings  from  the  top.  The  roost  platform  extends 
the  whole  length  of  the  room.  It  is  three  feet  six  inches  wide  and  three 
feet  from  the  floor.  The  roosts  are  2  x  3-inch  stuff  placed  on  edge  and  arc 
two  inches  above  the  platform.  They  are  16  inches  apart;  the  backs  are 
11  inches  from  the  wall.  •  Two  curtains  similar  to  the  one  in  front  are 
noticed  hung  over  the  roost  platform.  They  are  10  feet  long  and  30 
inches  wide,  hinged  at  the  top  and  arranged  with  pulleys,  so  as  to  be 
pulled  up  or  let  down  easily.  Six  trap  nests,  as  are  shown  on  page  15, 
are  arranged  in  the  corner  as  shown.  The  door  leading  to  the  ne.xt  room 
is  2^/2  feet  wide.  This  door  is  a  light  frame  covered  with  10-ounce  duck, 
such  as  is  used  in  making  the  curtains.  It  is  made  with  double-acting 
hinges,  so  as  to  swing  both  ways — a  great  advantage  in  passing  through 
such  a  house.     Strips  of  old  rubber  belting  are  nailed  to  the  studs,  which 

the  doors  rub  against  so  they 
will  not  swing  too  easily  with 
the  wind.  The  wire  front  of 
this  house  admits  the  air,  but 
the  hens  do  not  feel  the  direct 
force  of  the  wind.  During 
rough  Winter  storms  or  on 
very  cold  nights  the  front  cur- 
tain is  lowered  and  fastened 
with  a  button,  so  that  it  comes 
in  front  of  the  wire  screen, 
thus  shutting  out  the  wind  and 


t. 


Fig.  23. 
INTERIOR  OF  ABOVE  HOUSE. 


The    Business    Hen. 


^=^ 


Fig.  24. 
VAN  DKESSER'S  PARTITIONED  HOUSE 


taking  the   place  of  windows. 

The  object  of  the  curtains  in 
front  of  the  roosts  is  to  make  a 
warm  room  for  the  hens  on  very 
cold  nights.  On  such  nights, 
after  the  hens  have  gone  to 
roost,  the  curtains  are  let  down 
and  buttoned,  so  that  the  hens 
are  shut  in  a  small  room.  The 
heat  ot  their  bodies  keeps  this 
room  warm,  and,  strange  to  say, 
the  air  behind  the  curtains  does  not  become  foul.  It  is  said  that  when 
these  "sleeping  closets"  are  used  not  a  sick  hen  or  even  a  case  of  bad  cold 
could  be  found.  After  passing  the  night  in  this  warm  place  the  hen* 
seem  to  enjoy  coming  down  to  the  floor  to  scratch  for  their  food  in  the 
litter.  We  would  not  recommend  this  "roosting  closet"  except  for  use  on 
very  cold  nights.  The  plan  of  an  open  front  with  a  curtain  has  much  in 
its   favor. 

HOUSE  INTERIORS. — The  interior  fixtures  for  henhouses  vary 
almost  as  much  as  do  those  for  human  families.  Fig.  24  shows  an  in- 
terior of  one  of  Henry  Van  Dresser's  houses.  A  wire  netting  partition 
divides  a  large  room  in  two.  The  arrangement  of  roosts  and  nest  boxes 
is  easily  seen.  Fig.  25  shows  a  little  house  used  by  Mr.  Cosgrove,  who 
lives  in  a  cold  part  of  New  England.     He  describes  it  as  follows : 

"This  is  the  most  economical  house  to  build  that  I  know  of.  The 
house  is  10  x  10  on  the  ground.  A  perpendicular  front  would  (with  the 
same  roof)  be  only  7  x  10,  so  I  gain  30  feet  of  floor  surface  at  a  cost  of 
only  46  feet  of  boards.  The  house  is  made  of  seven-eighths-inch  matched 
pine,  roof  and  back  covered  with  red  Neponset  roofing  paper.  There  are 
no  sills  or  plates ;  the  boards  are  nailed  to  a  2  x  3  x  10  scantling  six 
inches  from  bottom  edge,  and  three  inches  below  top  edge,  so  that  the 
ends  of  the  2x3  pieces  that  the  roof  is  nailed  to  rest  on  the  2x3  that 

the  sides  are  nailed  to.  Each 
part,  top,  back,  front  -and  sides 
are  made  separately,  and  are 
hooked  together  across  the  cor- 
ners. The  house  can  be  un- 
hooked, laid  flat  on  the  ground 
and  loaded  on  a  wagon  in  five 
minutes,  and  put  together  again 
as  quickly.  Two  large  windows 
which  slide  sideways  allow  near- 

r  Hi.    ^o, 

COSGROVE'S  MOVABLE  HOUSE.  'y  half  of  the   front  to  be  open 


The    Hen's    House. 


53 


Fig.   26. 

SCRATCHING   SHED 

ARRANGEMENT. 


in  hot  days,  as  well  as  the  large  door  in  east 
end  (which  is  left  off  to  show  interior)  and 
which  opens  into  an  open  front  scratching  shed 
size  of  the  house.  The  low  windows  let  -the 
Winter  sun  shine  on  the  earth  floor,  drying  and 
warming  it,  so  the  fowls  make  a  dust  bath  of 
the  entire  floor.  Roost  platform,  with  remov- 
able roosts,  nest  boxes  and  feed  trough,  are 
shown;  on  the  east  end  next  the  door  is  a  box  with  three  partitions,  one 
each  for  shells,  grit  and  charcoal." 

Fig.  26  shows  a  plan  for  connecting  the  house  with  a  scratching  shed. 
Fig.  27  shows  how  a  boy  with  a  small  backyard  kept  a  few  hens  in  a 
piano  box,  while  Fig.  29  shows  a  henhouse  on  wheels,  often  used  in 
England  for  pasturing  the  hens  on  a  grain  stubble.  This  house  or  wagoii 
is  hauled  about  the  field  after  harvest,  and  the  hens  pick  up  the  grain  that 
was  lost  by  the  reapers. 

WARMING  THE  HENHOUSE.— Some  experiments  have  been  made 
in  providing  artificial  heat.  In  Maine  a  house  150  feet  long  was  well  built, 
yet  cold  in  the  worst  of  Winter.  A  hot-water  heater  was  placed  in  a 
pit  at  one  end,  and  from  it  a  line  of  two-inch  pipes  was  carried  the  entire 
length  of  the  building  and  returned  under  the  roosts.  This  gave  suffi- 
cient heat,  kept  the  hens  in  good  health,  and  the  egg  yield  was  main- 
tained. Stoves  have  been  used  in  some  houses,  but  not  with  the  best  oi 
success.  A  device  for  using  a  lamp  in  a  small  house  is  shown  in  Fig.  28. 
On  a  large  scale,  and  in  very  cold  weather,  the  hot-water  pipe  might  pay, 
but  the  danger  is  in  using  the  heat  in  milder  weather — when  the  hens 
would  be  better  off  without  it.  Some  poultry  keepers  follow  the  plan  that 
has  proved  so  successful  with  cattle;  building  a  tight,  warm  building,  pro- 
viding for  a  good  ventilation,  and  leaving  the  question  of  warmth  to  the 
animal  heat  of  the  hens.  H.  E.  Cook  has  described  what  he  calls  a  "hen 
sanitarium."  This  was  a  room  10  x  24  feet.  In  this  room  125  hens  were 
kept,  and  though  outside  the  mercury  fell  to  far  below  zero,  the  temperature 
inside  ranged  from  37  degrees  to  42  degrees.     Mr.  Cook  says : 

"This  house  is  thoroughly  insulated  upon  all  sides  but  one,  which  is 
protected  by  another  building,  by  a  stuffed 
wall  of  straw  and  straw  above,  and  a  ce- 
ment floor,  thus  shutting  off  every  chance 
for  air  to  enter  around  the  wall  or  for  cold 
air  contact  or  moisture  from  the  soil  below. 
I  have  repeatedly  said  that  it  does  not  seem 
possible  to  secure  large  egg  production  in 

the  Winter  in  our  northern  sections,  where  ^    ._,_ 

it  storms  often  three  days  in  a  week  and  PIANO-BOX  HOUSE. 


54 


The    Business    Hen. 


Fig.  28. 
A  LAIUi*  HEATER. 


is  cloudy  rest  of  the  time,  and  this  exceptional 
year  these  things  things  happen  every  day  in  the 
week.  But  this  warm  henhouse  is  giving  40  to 
53  eggs  a  day  for  the  past  six  weeks  from  125 
hens,  75  pullets,  and  50  old  hens,  and  40  degrees 
below  absolutely  had  no  effect  otherwise  than  to 
increase  the  production  two  eggs  per  day.  This 
room  is  ceiled  upon  the  inside  with  unmatched 
boards,  the  side  walls  filled  with  straw,  about  10 
inches  space.  In  the  lott  straw  is  put  in  loosely, 
and  the  space  between  the  boards  caused  by 
shrinkage  is  left  open  into  the  loose  straw  above 
The  door  into  the  room  does  not  shut  air  tight, 
and  therefore  serves  as  an  intake  for  fresh  air; 
then  very  slowly  passing  into  the  straw  above. 
In  this  way  it  would  seem  that  a  much  slower  circulation  takes  place  than 
would  if  there  was  an  opening  cut  directly  into  the  loft  and  the  circulation 
left  free,  as  it  would  through  even  an  ordinary  out-take  flue.  I  do  not 
feel  like  speaking  with  much  authority  upon  the  hen  business,  but  it  is 
rather  a  lingering  belief  that  henhouses  as  a  rule  are  troubled  with  too 
much  change  of  air  rather  than,  a  lack  of  it,  and  furthermore  that  the 
apparent  need  of  ventilation  when  one  goes  into  a  house  comes  largely 
from  filth,  and  a  lack  of  sanitation  due  to  droppings  long  preserved.  1 
am  not  inclined  to  belittle  the  necessity  of  pure  air,  but  to  magnify  the 
value  of  cleanliness,  and  so  secure  pure  air  with  less  frequent  change. 
There  is  ground  for  debate  whether  open  dead  air  spaces  are  preferable 
to  stuffed  walls.  My  preference  is  for  the  stuffed  space,  provided  it  is 
wide  enough,  for  this  reason :  Each  straw  is  hollow  and  cannot  be  abso- 
lutely (if  dry)  packed  so  closely  to  another  that  there  will  not  be  air 
between  them,  and  hence  with  this  means  of  insulation  there  will  be  pro- 
vided a  multitude  of  dead-air  spaces,  at  moderate  cost,  while  to  secure  even 
two  spaces  with  lumber  at  $20  per  1,000  means  rapidly  increasing  cost 
and  there  certainly  should  not  be  less  than  two.  Furthermore,  no  lumber 
can  be  so  sound  and  thoroughly  seasoned  that 
there  will  not,  even  if  painted,  be  some  shrink- 
age after  a  few  years'  use,  and  when  these  pre- 
viously considered  dead-air  spaces  have  open- 
ings they  are  no  longer  dead-air  spaces,  because 
air  circulates  in  them  and  heat  is  quickly  carried 
away.  A  mistake,  however,  is  often  made  when 
stuffing  is  to  be  practiced  in  forming  the  space 
2  too   narrow.     It  should   ordinarily  be   not   less 

HOUSE  ON  WHEELS.         than   10  inches,   more  or  less,  perhaps,  accord- 


The    Hen's    House. 


55 


Fig.  30. 
IIAYWARD'S  14-I-IEN  HOUSE. 


ing  to  wind  pressure  against  its 
sides.  When  plain  dead-air  spaces 
are  used,  tlien  one-half  inch  will 
suffice  as  well  as  more.  I  am  of 
the  opinion  that  the  ceiling  will 
be  better  if  tlie  lumber  is  not 
matched,  thereby  leaving  small 
cracks  to  be  covered  with  two  or 
three  feet  of  dry,  loose  straw." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Mr. 
Cook  allows  less  than  two  square 
feet  of  floor  space  to  each  hen,  but 
the  greatest  care  is  taken  to  have 
this  floor  clean.  The  litter  is 
changed  frequently,  and  the  floor  is  swept  often,  which  is  possible,  since 
it  is  made  of  concrete.  The  manure  is  cleaned  out  before  it  becomes 
offensive.  It  would  not  be  possible  to  keep  the  hens  in  health  in  such 
crowded  quarters  if  the  house  were  not  kept  so  clean.  We  have  many 
other  reports  of  hens  crowded  into  a  small  space  and  yet  laying  remarkably 
well.  In  every  such  case  the  houses  are  well  ventilated  and  kept  thor- 
oughly clean.  It  seems  to  be  settled  that  we  may  safely  use  the  animal 
heat  of  hens  or  cows  to  keep  up  the  temperature  of  their  rooms  if  we  can 
provide  for  a  supply  of  pure  air  and  dispose  of  the  foul  air  without  creat- 
ing too  much  of  a  draft. 

THE  DUST  BOX.— This  ought  to  stand  in  the  sunshine  out  of  all 
drafts;  under  the  front  window  is  a  good  place.  Road  dust  is  excellent. 
It  is  well  to  secure  a  quantity  of  it  during  a  dry  spell  in  Summer.  We 
have  found  dry  sifted  coal  ashes  good.  A  large  shallow  box  is  best.  Do 
not  fill  it  too  full  so  the  Hens  will  kick  the  dust  over  the  floor.  In  some 
cases  a  small  quantity  of  lime  is  added  to  the  dust,  but  we  do  not  like  it, 
as  it  takes  the  gloss  from  the  feathers.  Do  not  let  the  dust  remain  too 
long.  It  must  not  become  damp  or 
caked.  In  freezing  weather  the  dust 
box  should  be  emptied  frequently,  so 
as  to  keep  the  dust  dry. 

THE  FLOOR.— Good  arguments  are 
advanced  for  cement,  board  or  earth 
floors,  just  as  different  housekeepers  pre- 
fer carpets,  matting  or  rugs  with  hard 
wood.  The  wood  floors  are  warm  and 
easily   cleaned.      Cement   makes    a    solid 

floor,    and    if   properly    built    keeps    out  p,       g^ 

rats  and  vermin  better  than  the  others.  SWINGING  HEN  DOOR. 


56 


The    Business    Hen. 


It  is  easy  to  clean,  the  chief  objection  being  that  it  is  cold.  With  plenty 
of  litter  this  objection  counts  for  less.  Earth  floors  can  be  dug  over  frAm 
time  to  time,  and  make  a  good  natural  place  for  the  hens  to  dig  and 
dust.  After  some  years  they  become  foul,  unless  dug  out  and  changed 
yearly,  and  are  more  likely  to  carry  disease  germs  than  floors  that  can 
be  easily  swept  clean.  Unless  well  drained  they  are  wet  in  rainy  weather. 
A  combination  liked  by  many  is  a  cement  floor  covered  with  several 
inches  of  sand  or  dry  dirt.  Whatever  floor  is  used  a  good  covering  of 
clean  dry  litter  must  be  kept  on  it  and  frequently  changed.  Cut  straw 
makes  good  litter;  so  do  forest  leaves  or  shredded  cornstalks.  Oat 
straw  in  the  sheaf  is  used  by  some  poultry  keepers. 

ROOSTS. — Notice  how  a  hen  holds  on  to  the  perch  and  balances 
herself  upon  it.  A  square  strip  with  the  edges  rounded  off  gives  her  a 
better  grip  than  a  round  pole — a  two  or  three-inch  strip,  according  to  the 
size  of  the  bird,  will  answer.  Do  not  put  them  too  high.  The  hens  are 
often  hurt  by  flying  up  to  them.  The  arrangement  shown  on  page  50, 
used  in  White  and  Rice's  house,  is  excellent.  There  should  be  a  dropping 
board  one  foot  under  the  roosts  to  catch  the  droppings.  The  roosts  should 
not  be  fastened,  but  put  in  notches  so  that  they  can  be  quickly  taken  out 
for  cleaning.  In  some  cases  duck  or  other  thick  cloth  is  tacked  to  the  under 
side  of  the  roosts.  This  will  be  kept  smeared  with  kerosene,  and  thus 
prevent  the  mites  from  gathering  there.  The  dropping  board  must  of 
course  be  cleaned  off  frequently.  Its  great  value  is  that  the  hens  can  run 
under  it,  and  thus  have  greater  floor  space. 

BARNS  FOR  HENHOUSES.— Sometimes  a  farmer  wishes  to  change 
from  dairying  to  poultry-keeping.  Men  often  buy  farms  with  large  build- 
ings used  formerly  for  sheep  or  cattle.  How  can  such  buildings  be  made 
over  to  suit  poultry.?  While  it  is  better  to  build  houses  exactly  suited  to 
hens  this  is  not  always  possible,  and  the  larger  buildings  can  be  used.  A 
Maine  man  fitted  up  an  old  building,  and  this  is  what  he  says  about  it: 

^J^ctiaJA.   ho-itt^ -^  ..  .     ., 


II  III       wc^^ 

mill 

../        Illli          °' 

nil       n     " 

'   nil  ° 

I  Ob  Mm^. 


1 


-fr 


^^SZ\_ 


"I  have  used  and  am  still  using  a  barn  36  x  40  feet  as  a  three-story  hen- 
house.    The  lower  story  is  a  basement  open  to  the  south;  second  floor 


The    Hen's    House.  57 

is  on  the  level  with  all  the  land  except  south  of  barn;  third  is  up  one 
flight  from  entrance.  In  Summer  I  let  each  floor  run  as  one  flock, 
having  a  large  field  and  orchard,  and  only  have  division  fences  run- 
ning about  300  feet,  and  I  find  that  a  hen  very  rarely  gets  around 
the  end.  The  upper  flock  have  a  run  which  starts  about  10  feet  from  end 
of  barn,  and  runs  through  the  middle  pen  to  the  ground.  I  use  poultry 
wire  for  partitions  and  doors.  I  have  no  walks,  and  have  doors  rigged 
with  pulleys  and  weights  so  that  they  keep  shut.  Troughs  are  made  of 
10-inch  boards  for  mash,  and  I  feed  dry  grain  on  floor  in  litter.  Water 
dishes  are  elevated  on  a  wide  board  about  12  inches  from  ground,  which 
keeps  water  clean.  For  roosts  I  use  2  x  3-inch  pine  planed  and  simply  laid 
on  stringers  two  feet  from  the  ground,  which  makes  them  easy  to  clean, 
and  roosts  are  placed  so  that  two  flocks  roost  close  together.  Sometime  I 
want  to  use  the  space  over  the  big  beams  as  a  pigeon  roost  to  raise  squabs. 
I  am  only  using  two  floors  this  Winter,  as  I  have  but  400  hens,  but  I  would 
not  exchange  my  barn  for  any  henhouse,  as  the  work  is  all  in  a  bunch. 

CONFINE  HENS.— Fig.  30  shows  one  of  the  600  houses  on  the 
poultry  farm  of  C.  E.  L.  Hayward,  Hancock,  N.  H.  The  houses  are  eight 
feet  square  and  of  the  same  height,  having  a  double  floor  with  a  square 
base  15  inches  high  of  two-inch  plank,  to  which  the  roof  boards  are  nailed. 
The  roof  and  back  are  shingled.  The  front  is  boarded  down  from  top 
and  up  from  bottom  about  15  inches.  The  door  and  spaces  each  side  are 
covered  with  wire  netting  one  inch  mesh.  Thus  the  south  end  is  nearly 
open  to  the  weather  the  year  around.  The  houses  are  in  rows  two  rods 
apart,  four  rods  between  the  rows,  all  facing  the  south.  Each  house  has 
14  hens.  No  chickens  are  raised.  In  October  and  November  every  hen 
is  sold  and  a  new  stock  of  pullets,  raised  by  contract  in  Vermont  and 
Canada,  put  in. 


CHAPTER    X. 
Feeding  the  Hen. 

A  BALANCED  RATION.— Nothing  connected  with  poultry  keeping 
requires  more  skill  and  judgment  than  giving  the  hen  what  she  needs  to 
make  feathers,  flesh  and  eggs.  A  farmer  who  just  throws  corn  out  to 
the  hens  now  and  then  will  say  feeding  is  eas}',  and  there  is  no  skill  about 
it.  He  is  wrong,  for  the  hen  furnishes  the  skill  and  judgment.  She  eats 
the  corn,  and  then  goes  out  and  hunts  for  insects,  seeds,  grass — anything 
that  she  can  find.  H  we  could  gather  everything  she  selects  in  this  way 
and  analyze  it  we  would  find  that  it  makes  a  "balanced  ration,"  much 
the  same  as  the  mixture  of  grain  and  meat  which  the  skilled  feeder  gives 
his  hens  in  the  Winter.  To  prove  this  statement  we  have  only  to  remem- 
ber that  in  Summer,  when  the  corn-fed  hen  has  a  chance  to  balance  her 
lation  she  lays  eggs.  In  Winter,  when  still  fed  corn  but  denied  the  chance 
to  hunt  for  insects  and  meat  she  quits  and  lays  on  fat.  I  know  a  farmer 
who  for  years  fed  corn  in  Winter  and  had  few  eggs.  He  bought  a  bone 
cutter  and  fed  cut  bone,  and  had  a  good  supply.  Why  was  this?  The 
cut  bone  enabled  the  hen  to  balance  her  own  ration  as  she  did  when  she 
hunted  insects  to  go  with  the  corn.  The  idea  of  a  balanced  ration  was 
suggested  first  by  an  effort  to  imitate  the  hen's  natural  food,  when  she 
is  shut  in  a  yard  or  house.  It  is  based  on  the  fact  that  certain  parts  of  the 
hen's  body  cannot  be  produced  unless  certain  distinct  elements  are  sup- 
plied in  the  food.  For  example  the  shell  of  the  egg  is  composed  largely 
of  lime.  It  will  not  be  made  of  any  other  substance,  and  unless  lime  is 
supplied  in  some  way  there  can  be  no  shell.  The  feathers,  the  white  of 
the  egg,  the  muscles  and  lean  meat  of  the  hen  contain  an  element  known 
as  nitrogen,  and  the  food  must  contain  a  fair  supply  of  this  muscle-making 
material.  The  chemists  call  this  part  of  the  food  protein,  but  we  will  call 
it  here  muscle-maker.  The  fat  of  the  body  is  made  from  starch,  sugar, 
and  similar  materials  in  the  food.  The  muscle  cannot  be  made  from 
these  fatty  foods.  If  we  feed  too  many  of  them  the  hen  will  stop  making 
lean  meat  or  laying  eggs  and  simply  lay  on  fat.  We  will  call  this  part  of 
the  food  "fat  formers."  There  is  also  a  quantity  of  oil  or  pure  fat  in  most 
fooHs.  It  is  more  digestible  than  the  fat  formers  and  we  call  it  "pure 
fat."  Left  to  herself,  with  plenty  to  choose  from,  a  healthy  hen  will  make 
a  nice  selection  of  these  three  elements  in  her  food,  taking  enough  "muscle 
makers"  to  keep  up  her  bone  and  muscle  and  provide  for  the  egg,  and 
enough  of  the  others  to  suit  her  purpose.  Human  mothers  need  the 
doctor  or  some  other  wise  man  to  come  and  tell  them  that  their  children 


Feeding  the  Hen. 


50 


should  eat  oatmeal  or  other  whole  grain  to  provide  the  material  for 
teeth  and  bones.  The  hen  knows  by  instinct  what  she  needs,  and  in  order 
to  cater  to  that  instinct,  when  we  cannot  let  the  hen  choose  entirely,  we 
get  the  chemist  to  pick  our  grains  and  other  foods  apart  so  that  we  can 
tell  how  to  mix  them  and  give  the  hen  a  good  Winter  imitation  of  her 
Summer  diet  of  worms,  seeds  and  grass.  For  the  hen  must  have  mineral 
matter  to  build  her  bones  and  shell  her  eggs.  This  "mineral  matter"  is 
the  part  of  the  hen  or  her  food  which  cannot  be  consumed  by  fire,  but 
which  remains  as  ash.  We  must  also  remember  that  the  hen  cannot  utilize 
all  the  food  she  eats.  More  than  half  of  its  fertilizing  value  passes  away 
in  the  form  of  manure.     We  must  give  her  food  enough  to  provide  for  all. 

AMOUNTS  IN  TEN  POUNDS  OF  EACH.         ^^^^^^ 

Muscle-makers.  Fat-formers.     Pure  fat.       Min.  Mat. 
P.  C.       Ozs.     P.  C.      Oz.s.     P.  C.  Ozs.     P.  C.  Ozs. 

Wheat    bran 13.  19.3       39.         63.4      3.7       4.4         6.4     10.3 

Wheat     10.  16.         69.       110.4       1.7       3.7         1.8       3.8 

Corn     8.  13.8       67.       107.3       4.3       6.8         1.4       2.3 

Oats    9.  14.4       47.         59.3       4.3       6.7         3.9       4.6 

Rye    10.  16.  67.        107.3       1.1       1.7  1.9       3. 

Middlings     12.5         20.         53.         84.8       3.4       5.4         3.3       5.38 

Gluten    meal 35.  40.         43.         68.8     11.       17.6       12.       19.3 

Meat    meal 40.  64.  7.5       12.       10.       16.         38.         6. 

Beef    scraps 50.  80.  5.  8.       21.       33.6       15.       24. 

Clover    hay 7.  11.3       36.         57.6       1.7       3.7       62.         9.9 

Buckwheat    7.7         13.3       49.         78.4       1.8       3.8         3.         3.2 

Skimmed    milk 3.  4.8         5.  8.         0.3       0.48       0.7       1.1 

Eggs    12.  19.3  10.       16.         14.5     23.3 

Cut    bone 31.  33.6  33.       51.         22.         3.5 

Barley     9.  14.4       65.       104.         1.6       2.5         2.7       4.3 

Millet     9.  14.4       45.         72.         3.2       5.1         2.6       4.1 

Sorghum     7.  11.2       53.         83.3       3.1       4.9         1.5       3.4 

Sunflower    seed 12.  19.2       21.         33.6     39.       46.4         3.6       4.1 

Linseed  meal   28.  44.8       40.         64.         3.8       4.4         6.         9.6 

Peas    17.  37.3       53.         83.2       0.7       1.1         3.6       4.1 

WHAT  IT  MEANS. — It  does  not  take  us  long  to  see  why,  when  the 
farmer  added  cut  bone  to  the  corn  his  hens  laid  more  eggs.  A  dozen  eggs 
will  weigh  not  far  from  25  ounces,  requiring  three  ounces  of  muscle 
makers,  and  nearly  four  of  mineral  matter.  Ten  pounds  of  corn  do  not 
provide  half  enough  mineral  matter  for  tlie  dozen  eggs,  even  if  every  bit 
of  the  corn  could  be  used  and  none  passed  as  manure.  The  muscle  makers 
are  also  low  in  the  corn,  and  when  the  hen  provides  for  the  growth  of 
body  and  feathers,  animal  heat  and  the  fat  necessary  for  comfort  there  is 


60  The    Business    Hen. 

not  much  left  in  the  corn  to  furnish  the  material  for  eggs.  We  see  what 
happens  when  cut  bone  is  added.  This  is  rich  in  muscle  makers  and  min- 
eral matter,  and  the  hen  was  ready  to  provide  for  the  needs  of  her  system 
and  also  lay  eggs. 

It  does  not  follow  from  this  that  cut  bone  and  corn  is  the  best  ration 
for  hens  just  because  it  gives  her  mineral  matter  and  muscle  makers. 
You  can  put  water  in  a  steam  boiler  and  burn  coal  under  it  and!  make 
steam,  but  a  hen  is  not  fed  that  way.  Like  most  humans  she  prefers  one 
kind  of  food  to  another,  and  will  do  best  on  food  that  she  likes.    You  must 

^  study  her  likes  and  dislikes  and  cater  to 

/V  "  ^^  them. 

1      ^g^^»ga5.-;^^^^Ag^^  Why,   then,    talk    about    "balanced    ra- 

tions," and  what  is  the  need  of  studying 
Fig.  32.  these  figures?     You  cannot  always  afford 

HINGED  PEED  BOX.  to  feed  the  hen  just  what  she  likes  best. 

You  must  often  substitute  one  food  for  another.  How  can  you  know 
that  you  are  feeding  the  hen  more  or  less  than  she  needs  unless  you  can 
know  just  what  the  foods  contain?  If  you  could  figure  out  what  the  hen 
eats  when  at  liberty  and  what  the  most  successful  hen  keepers  feed  their 
birds  when  housed,  you  will  find  that  there  is  a  definite  proportion  of 
muscle  makers  to  the  other  elements.  If  we  call  the  fat  worth  2^2  times 
as  much  as  the  fat  formers  and  add  the  two  together  we  shall  find  that 
there  is  about  ^  as  much  of  the  muscle  makers  in  the  ration.  That  is, 
when  the  laying  hen  is  left  free  to  select  the  food  that  will  best  keep  up  her 
body  heat  and  vigor,  and  enable  her  to  lay  eggs  she  will  select  about  one 
part  of  the  muscle  makers  to  four  parts  of  fat  formers  and  pure  fat,  with, 
of  course,  plenty  of  lime  and  other  mineral  matter.  If  you  were  fattening 
poultry  you  would  of  course  mix  up  a  ration  that  would  contain  more  of 
the  fat  formers. 

This  in  brief  is  the  theory  of  a  "balanced  ration."  No  one  expects  a 
farmer  to  feed  his  hens  on  exact  scientific  principles,  but  a  little  study 
of  these  figures  will  often  enable  us  to  mix  our  feeds  so  as  to  save  grain 
and  keep  the  hens  supplied  with  what  they  need.  Successful  poultrymen 
have  different  methods  of  feeding,  but  if  we  know  what  they  feed  we 
shall  find  that  the  mixture  comes  close  to  our  "balanced  ration,"  which  is 
a  good  thing  to  take  for  the  standard. 

TWO  WAYS  OF  FEEDING.— To  illustrate  two  different  methods  of 
feeding  hens  we  give  a  report  from  the  Maine  Experiment  Station  of  feed- 
ing in  cold  weather  when  the  hens  are  housed : 

Years  ago  the  "morning  mash,"  which  was  regarded  as  necessary  to 
"warm  up  the  cold  hen,"  so  she  could  lay  that  day,  was  given  up  and  it  was 
fed  at  night.  The  birds  are  fed  throughout  the  year  daily  as  follows : 
Each  pen  of  twenty-two  receives  one  pint  of  wheat  in  the  deep  litter  early 


Feeding  the  Hen.  61 

in  the  morning.  At  9.30  A.  M.  one-half  pint  of  oats  is  fed  to  them  in  the 
same  way.  At  1  P.  M.  one-half  pint  of  cracked  corn  is  given  in  the  litter 
as  before.  At  3  P.  M.  in  the  Winter  and  4  P.  M.  in  the  Summer  they  are 
given  all  the  mash  they  will  eat  up  clean  in  half  an  hour.  The  mash  is 
made  of  the  following  mixture  of  meals:  200  pounds  wheat  bran;  100 
pounds  cornmeal ;  100  pounds  wheat  middlings ;  100  pounds  linseed  meal ; 
100  pounds  gluten  meal;  100  pounds  beef  scrap.  The  mash  contains  one- 
fourth  its  bulk  of  clover  leaves  and  heads,  obtained  from  the  feeding 
floor  in  the  cattle  barn.  The  clover  is  covered  with  hot  water  and  allowed 
to  stand  for  three  or  four  hours.  The  mash  is  made  quite  dry,  and  rubbed 
down  with  the  shovel  in  mixing,  so  that  the  pieces  of  clover  are  separated 
and  covered  with  meal.  Cracked  bone,  oyster  shells,  clean  grit,  and  water 
are  before  them  all  the  time.  Two  large  mangels  are  fed  to  the  birds  in 
each  pen  daily  in  Winter.  They  are  stuck  on  to  large  nails,  which  are 
partly  driven  into  the  wall,  a  foot  and  a  half  above  the  floor.  Very 
few  soft-shelled  eggs  are  laid,  and,  so  far  as  known,  not  an  egg  has  been 
eaten  by  the  hens  during  the  last  five  years. 

We  are  testing  another  method  of  feeding  with  several  pens  of  hens 
this  year.  It  consists  of  the  morning,  9.30  A.  M.,  and  1  P.  M.  feedings  of 
.dry  food  in  the  litter  as  usual,  but  instead  of  the  mash  at  3  P.  M.  all  the 
dry  cracked  corn  they  v/ill  eat  is  given  in  troughs.  Beef  scrap  is  kept 
before  the  birds  at  all  times,  in  elevated  troughs  where  they  cannot  waste 
it.  They  are  supplied  with  grit,  oyster  shell,  bone,  and  mangels.  Dry 
clover  leaves  and  chaff  are  given  them  on  the  floor  each  day.  One  pen 
of  30  hens  were  fed  through  last  Winter  in  this  way  with  good  results. 
If  you  figure  this  out  by  the  table,  multiplying  amount  of  "pure  fat' 
by  2>4  and  adding  to  the  "fat  formers,"  you  will  see  that  the  mash  con- 
tains the  following: 

Muscle  Maker.     Fat  Former.       Pure  Fat. 

200  Wheat    bran 24  78  5.2 

100  Corn    meal 8  67  4.2 

100  Linseed     28  40  2.8 

100  Gluten     25  43  11. 

100  Beef   scraps 50  5  2.1 

135  233  25.3 

This  is  a  proportion  of  about  one  to  three  and  the  corn,  oats  and  wheat  will 
just  about  give  a  proportion  of  all  the  food  ot  one  to  four.  We  feel 
quite  sure  that  the  hens  which  are  fed  on  dry  food  eat  enough  of  the 
beef  scrap  to  give  about  the  same  proportion.  We  do  not  give  this  ration 
as  a  model  one,  but  as  an  illustration  of  how  hens  can  be  fed.  It  will 
pay  to  go  over  any  ration  in  this  way  and  see  just  what  the  hens  are 
receiving.     We  should  have  a   few  definite  principles  in  mind,  and  then 


62  Tlic    Business    lien. 

try   to   satisfy   our  hens. There   may   be   cases   where   skim-milk   is   cheap 

and  plenty.    If  we  used  it  in  place  of  water  we  should  need  less  linseed  or 

meat,  as  we  can  learn  from  our  table.     In  many  cases  corn  is  by  far  the 

cheapest  food.     We  can  safely  use  large  quantities  of  it  if  we  use  some 

form   of   meat   with   it   to   provide   the   needed    muscle    makers.      Taking 

care  not  to  have  the  proportion  of  fat  formers  in  our  ration  too  large,  we 

should    feed_  to   please   the   hens,   making   them   work    for   most   of   their 

food,  and  when  once  getting  them  satisfied  making  changes  very  slowly. 

Another  method   of   feeding 

hens    in     Winter    quarters     is 

given  here.     This  is  useful   on 

a  dairy  farm  where  skim-milk 

is  handy : 

"In    the    morning   they    are 

fed  about  10  quarts  of  dry  feed 
Fig.   33.     HANDY  FEED  BOX.  -     .u     i-..       •  .   i.-         i    j 

m  the  litter  m  scratchmg  sheds, 

the  litter  pushed  up  into  a  heap,  and  the  grain  scattered  through  it  so 
they  must  scratch;  the  grain  is  usually  half  cracked  corn  and  half  wheat, 
sometimes  oats  in  place  of  wheat,  sometimes  buckwheat,  but  always  half 
cracked  corn.  As  I  have  two  hundred  hens,  this  is  a  light  feed,  about, 
one  pint  to  ten  hens.  I  want  them  hungry  enough  to  work.  Early  in  the 
forenoon  eight  quarts  of  skim-milk  are  placed  on  the  back  of  the  kitchen 
stove,  where  it  will  heat  without  burning,  and  at  noon  this  is  poured  into 
a  large  iron  kettle,  together  with  two  quarts  of  animal  meal,  a  table- 
spoonful  of  salt  and  three  times  a  week  a  teaspoonful  of  red  pepper;  then 
stirred  into  it  all  it  will  wet  thoroughly  of  bran  and  cornmeal,  two  parts 
bran  to  one  of  meal.  It  makes  eighteen  quarts  of  feed,  all  the  hens  will 
eat  up  clean.  About  every  other  day  three  or  four  quarts  of  boiled  pota- 
toes are  cut  up  and  mixed  in  the  milk.  Just  before  sundown  they  are 
fed  the  same  dry  feed  as  in  the  morning,  only  more  in  quantity.  I  aim 
to  feed  at  this  time  all  they  will  eat.  For  green  food'  cabbages  are 
fed  three  or  four  times  a  week.  The  above  shows  what  is  fed,  and  how 
much,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  each  coop  is  fed  differently;  and  I  do  not 
know  of  anything  more  difficult  for  the  novice  to  learn  than  how  properly 
to  feed  fowls.  Last  night  I  sent  'my  boy,  14  years  old,  to  feed'  the  hens ; 
this  morning,  an  hour  after  the  hens  were  off  the  roosts,  in  three  of  the 
coops  there  was  still  a  lot  of  feed  in  the  troughs.  That  means  nn  scratch- 
ing, no  work,  sitting  around  half  the  day  in  a  bunch;  and  if  tliat  sort  of 
thing  was  kept  up  it  would  soon  mean  few  if  any  eggs.  My  fowls  have 
had  no  green  cut  bone,  no  cut  clover,  no  bought  grit;  doubtless  all  these 
things  would  be  good  for  them,  and  might  increase  the  egg  yield,  but  my 
experience  shows  that  very  good  results  can  be  obtained  without  them. 
I  keep  ground  oyster  shells  and  fine  gravel  gathered  from  the  wash  by  the 


Feeding  the  Hen.  63 

roadside  and  sifted,  also  broken  charcoal,  in  each  coop  all  the  time." 

FEEDING  HINTS.— The  mash  is  useful,  as  it  gives  a  good  chance  to 
feed  fine  meat  or  to  give  ginger  or  pepper  and  salt  when  needed.  No  single 
grain  has  just  the  right  feeding  "balance,"  wheat  and  oats  coming  nearest 
to  it.  We  can  make  the  mash  mto  any  proportion  we  like.  By  using  a 
good  proportion  of  corn  meal  we  can  get  the  hens  to  eat  many  cheap  forms 
of  food  which  they  would  not  care  for  alone.  For  example,  wheat  bran 
and  gluten,  two  useful  feeds  will  be  eaten  when  mixed  in  a  mash  but  not 
well  when  fed  alone.  The  common  mistake  is  to  feed  a  thin  slop  in  place 
of  a  dry,  crumbly  mash.  The  hens  rightly  object  to  the  former.  We 
have  tried  the  experiment  of  feeding  a  well-balanced  mash  alone.  The 
hens  did  not  respond  as  they  did  when  the  same  mixture  of  grains  and 
meat  was  baked  into  a  hard  cake  and  crumbled  for  them.  The  hen  does 
not  chew  her  food  like  other  animals.  It  is  ground  up  in  her  gizzard  by 
sharp  stones  or  grit  which  she  swallows.  The  hen  does  not  seem  to 
thrive  for  any  considerable  time  when  all  work  of  grinding  her  food  is 
taken  away.  Part  of  the  ration  should  be  in  the  form  of  dry  grain.  When 
hens  are  laying  fast  the  mash  is  useful  because  the  food  it  contains  is 
quickly  available.  The  hen  can  utilize  it  at  once.  She  may  not  get  it  fast 
enough  if  compelled  to  grind  all  her  own  grain. 

Experiments  have  been  tried  in  letting  the  hens  balance  their  own 
ration  by  keeping  a  variety  of  food  constantly  before  them.  In  our  own 
experiments  this  proved  a  failure.  Some  of  the  hens  grew  dumpy  and 
lifeless,  while  others  remained  active  and  fresh.  They  laid  well  for  a 
time,  but  the  general  observation  is  that  after  a  time  the  self-balancing 
system  fails.  With  us  the  chief  trouble  was  that  the  hens  missed  the 
incentive  of  hunger.  With  food  always  before  them  they  saw  little  need 
of  scratching  or  working  and  became  lazy,  as  most  men  would  under  sim- 
ilar circumstances. 

We  conclude  that  most  hens  are  more  likely  to  eat  too  much  of  the 
fat  forming  foods  if  given  a  chance  to  do  so.  They  are  not  so  likely  to  eat 
too  much  of  the  muscle  makers,  hence  the  plan  suggested  of  keeping  beef 
scrap  before  them  and  regulating  the  feeding  of  corn  or  other  grain  will 
work  better  than  the  plan  of  keeping  all  before  them.  It  is  wise  to  remove 
what  the  hens  leave  of  the  mash  after  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  of  eating. 
It  is  likely  to  sour  in  hot  weather,  and  it  is  a  good  plan  to  make 
the  hens  understand  that  eating  is  a  matter  of  business. 

GRAIN  FOOD. — Corn  is  preferred  by  most  hens.  Throw  down  a  mix- 
ture of  all  grains  and  they  usually  pick  out  the  corn  first.  When  properly 
"balanced"  with  meat  or  other  forms  of  muscle  makers  corn  is  the  best 
grain  we  have  for  poultry.  If  fed  in  the  form  of  whole  or  cracked  grain 
entirely  some  of  the  hens  will  eat  little  besides  corn,  and  will  put  on  fat 
when  they  ought  to  lay.    That  is  one  reason  why  a  mash  or  a  baked  cake 


The    Business    Hen. 


Fig.  34.      SELF-FEEDING  GRIT  BOX. 


composed  of  a  mixture  of  grain  and  meat  is  very  useful  for  part  of  the 
ration.  As  we  might  naturally  expect,  corn  is  the  best  single  grain  for 
sitting  hens  where  the  object  is  to  keep  up  the  high  animal  heat,  and  for 
feeding  birds  that  are  intended  for  fattening.  Corn  gives  a  high  color 
to  the  yolks  of  the  eggs  and  to  the  meat.  Wheat  comes  much  nearer  to 
being  a  "balanced  ration"  than  corn,  and  where  it  can  be  bought  to  advan- 
tage is  very  useful.  We  can  use  our  table  of  figures  to  learn  whether 
it  will  pay  best  to  buy  wheat  or  with  the  same  money  buy  corn  and  some 
form  of  meat.     Wheat  alone  gives  an  egg  with  a  pale  yellow  yolk.     We 

find  that  wheat  bran,  which  is 
the  outer  shell  of  the  wheat  ker- 
nel, has  much  the  same  effect. 
Oats  are  excellent  in  limited 
quantities,  but  are  seldom  bought 
to  be  fed  whole,  and  on  most 
farms  are  considered  better  for 
the  horses.  We  have  heard  com- 
plaints when  dry  oats  are  fed  in 
large  quantities  to  hens.  We 
would  rather  crush  them  to  mix 
in  the  mash  or  boil  them  if  fed 
whole.  Some  experienced  poul- 
trymen  say  that  oats  give  "spirit"  to  a  hen  as  they  do  to  a  horse,  and 
for  that  reason  are  very  useful — better  fed  whole  than  crushed.  Oatmeal 
is  a  favorite  food  for  little  chicks,  the  same  as  for  young  colts  or  calves. 
Buckwheat  is  largely  fed  in  some  sections  where  the  crop  is  grown.  Hens 
probably  give  a  better  return  for  whole  buckwheat  than  any  other  stock. 
Outside  of  buckwheat  sections  it  would  hardly  pay  to  buy  this  grain.  It 
is  a  stimulating  food,  as  many  people  realize  who  eat  too  many  buckwheat 
cakes.  On  the  average  farm  corn  is  the  chief  food  for  hens,  and  the 
usual  problem  is  to  find  some  cheap  supply  of  muscle  makers  in  order 
to  "balance"  the  corn.  The  advice  to  throw  the  whole  or  cracked  grain 
into  the  litter  in  Winter  so  that  the  hens  must  scratch  in  order  to  find 
it  is  sound,  and  is  the  general  practice.  If  this  is  done,  however,  the  litter 
must  be  clean  and  dry.  If  we  let  the  straw,  leaves,  hulls  or  whatever  is  on 
the  floor  get  damp  and  filthy  we  should  not  throw  the  grain  there.  Such 
filth  will  give  just  the  conditions  needed  to  spread  disease.  We  should 
never  throw  the  grain  into  the  mud  or  into  filth.  If  we  feed  in  the  litter 
we  must  have  clean  floors  with  the  litter  frequently  changed. 

MUSCLE-MAKING  FOODS.— Meat  in  some  form  may  be  considered 
a  necessity  in  the  laying  hen's  ration.  Left  to  herself  the  hen  gets  her 
supply  in  the  form  of  insects.  "Animal  Meal"  and  similar  powders  are 
cooked  meat  and  bone   thoroughly  dried  and  ground  fine.     They  give  a 


Feeding  the  Hen.  65 

high  per  cent  of  muscle  makers  and  may  be  thoroughly  mixed  in  the  mash. 
Cut  bone  is  a  very  useful  food  which  is  not  usually  mixed  with  the 
mash  but  fed  by  itself.  It  consists  of  green  or  fresh  bone,  sliced  or  shaved 
into  thin  pieces  by  a  bone  cutter,  which  is  turned  by  a  crank  and  cuts 
or  gouges  off  the  end  of  the  bone.  Where  a  good  supply  of  fresh  bone 
can  be  obtained  this  cut  bone  is  very  useful.  It  cannot  be  kept  sweet 
like  the  dry  animal  meal.  We  have  seen  cases  where  part  of  the  carcass 
of  a  dead  animal  was  hung  up  in  the  henhouse  for  the  fowls  to  pick  at. 
In  cold  weather  it  will  keep  reasonably  sweet,  and  it  is  surprising  to  see 
how  the  hens  will  pick  the  bones  clean.  In  some  cases  bones  are  roasted 
and  smashed  as  well  as  can  be  with  a  sledge. 
Any  form  of  meat  is  likely  to  loosen  the 
bowels  of  the  hen  when  first  fed.  Especially 
with  cut  bone  or  when  feeding  a  carcass,  the 
hens  should  be  watched  carefully  and  not  fed 
too  much.  Linseed  meal  and  skim-milk  are 
often  used  as  substitutes  for  rneat  but  do  not 
really  take  its  place.  Linseed  is  a  laxative 
food  and  should  not  be  fed  heavily.     Skim-  P       „- 

milk  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  foods.  ANOTHER  SELf'feedbr 
Some  farmers  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  young  pigs  and  chicks  cannot  be 
properly  raised  without  a  supply  of  milk,  but  facts  do  not  warrant  the 
statement.  The  milk  is  very  useful  for  mixing  the  mash  or  for  feeding 
alone.  We  should  always  provide  fresh  water  even  when  feeding  milk. 
The  feeding  value  of  skim-milk  has  been  demonstrated  in  boarding-houses 
and  public  institutions.  Whenever  the  boarders  are  provided  with  all 
the  milk  they  desire,  the  meat  bill  always  falls  off.  Still,  no  one  but  an 
infant  can  depend  on  milk  alone  to  supply  all  needed  muscle  makers. 

VARIOUS  FOODS. — While  we  do  not  regard  green  food  as  a  neces- 
sity in  hen  feeding  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  hen  feels  better  when  pro- 
vided with  grass  or  a  substitute  for  it.  Cabbage  is  the  usual  salad  fed  in 
Winter.  It  may  be  hung  up  by  a  string  so  that  the  hens  must  jump  up  to 
get  it.  The  fact  that  they  do  jump  for  it  proves  that  they  crave  some- 
thing of  the  sort.  Beets  or  mangels  are  often  fed,  either  chopped  in  two 
so  that  the  hens  can  pick  at  them  on  the  floor  or  hung  on  a  nail  driven  into 
the  wall.  Clover  hay  is  relished  by  the  hen,  and  not  only  gives  her  a  bulky 
food,  but  supplies  muscle  makers  and  mineral  matter.  The  chaff  and  heads 
which  fall  on  the  barn  floor  when  the  hay  is  thrown  down  may  be  mixed 
in  the  mash.  Some  feeders  chop  the  clover  hay  into  short  lengths,  steam 
It  thoroughly  by  pouring  boiling  water  upon  it,  and  then  covering  it  up. 
It  is  fed  hot  in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  in  Winter,  and  we  have  seen 
hens  devouring  it  as  cattle  would.  Clover  and  Alfalfa  are  sometimes 
ground  into  a  fine  meal,  which  is  excellent  for  mixing  in  the  mash.    Fish 


66  The    Business    Hen. 

may  be  fed  in  moderate  quantities  to  hens  before  it  begins  to  decay.  It 
can  be  cooked  and  thrown  down  for  the  hens  to  pick  over.  We  must 
remember  that  the  food  has  a  decided  effect  upon  the  flavor  of  the  egg, 
and  that  decayed  or  foul-smelHng  stuff  will  surely  taint  the  egg.  Sunflower 
seeds  can  be  fed  in  small  quantities.  They,  with  buckwheat,  are  useful 
just  before  and  during  the  hen's  moult.  It  is  thought  by  some  that  sun- 
flower seed  will  actually  hasten  the  moult  and  induce  the  hen  to  shed  her 
feathers  early.  While  cotton-seed  meal  is  fed  in  some  parts  of  the  South, 
we  do  not  advise  its  use  in  the  average  flock.  Linseed  or  some  form  of 
meat  is  much  safer.  Boiled  beans  or  cow  peas  are  relished  by  hens.  We 
prefer  to  feed  them  mixed  with  boiled  potatoes  or  corn  meal. 

GENERAL  ADVICE. — A  vigorous  hen  in  full  laying  will  eat  about 
five  ounces  of  well-balanced  food  each  day.  What  is  called  a  "mainte- 
nance ration"  means  the  amount  of  food  actually  required  to  keep  up  the 
body  of  the  hen  without  laying  or  gaining  in  flesh.  When  a  mature  hen 
stops  laying  and  becomes  idle  2y^  or  three  ounces  of  food  will  be  ample 
for  her  needs.  When  hens  run  in  an  orchard  or  in  a  grass  park  in  the 
Summer  it  is  a  wise  plan  to  feed  the  whole  grain  in  the  grass,  sowing  it 
broadcast,  as  one  would  for  seeding.  The  hens  hunt  and  scratch  for  it, 
and  if  not  overfed  will  get  it  all.  The  exercise  is  just  what  they  need,  and 
they  find  many  bugs  and  eat  much  grass  while  hunting  for  the  grain.  A 
mixture  of  equal  parts  of  corn,  oats  and  wheat  is  good  for  this  broad- 
castmg.  Hens  like  a  variety,  and  some  win  pick  out  corn  one  day,  oats 
another  and  wheat  at  another  time.  Where  hens  can  run  at  large  they 
pick  up  40  per  cent  or  more  of  their  food.  The  skilled  feeder  comes  to 
know  when  they  have  had  enough.  Hens  of  the  different  breeds  vary  in 
their  food  habits.  The  lighter  breeds,  like  Leghorns,  seem  to  be  more 
intelligent  than  the  heavier  fowls,  and  are  not  so  likely  to  over-feed.  The 
Leghorns  will  stand  a  heavy  feeding  of  corn  better  than  Plymouth  Rocks 
or  Brahmas.  The  latter  should  have  a  fair  supply  of  meat  and  seem  to 
require  green  food  even  more  than  the  lighter  fowls.  Some  authorities 
have  claimed  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  keep  oyster  shells  or  other  sup- 
plies of  lime  before  the  hens,  because  the  food  contains  enough  of  that 
substance.  The  hens  do  not  agree  with  these  authorities,  for  they  empty 
the  shell  boxes  and  would  not  do  so  if  the  lime  were  not  needed.  We 
should  keep  a  full  supply  of  lime  before  them.  Ground  bone  is  excellent 
for  this  purpose,  but  in  the  Eastern  States  oyster  shells  are  usually  cheaper. 
It  is  the  practice  of  some  farmers  to  haul  a  load  or  two  of  shells  from 
neighboring  fish  markets  every  year.  These  are  scattered  on  the  ground 
in  front  of  the  barn,  and  the  wagon  wheels  and  horses'  hoofs  grind  them 
up  gradually.  The  hens  help  themselves  as  they  feel  inclined,  and  if  the 
shells  do  not  wear  down  as  fast  as  needed  a  few  minutes'  work  with  an 
old  hammer  will  hurry  them  along. 


Feeding  the  Hen. 


_^ — w..,J.^--.AvA~v>,A- — ^^v.-,\^.vv-,-ir'*' 


STOVEPIPE    FEEDERS. 


On  sandy  land  hens  will  gener- 
ally find  all  the  "grit"  they  need. 
The  object  in  supplying  this 
"grit"  is  to  furnish  the  sharp 
little  stones  which,  in  the  hen's 
gizzard,  grind  up  the  hard  food. 
There  is  no  grit  in  the  little 
chick  as  it  leaves  the  incubator, 
and  it  must  be  supplied  in  the 
brooder.  That  is  why  many 
poultry  keepers  keep  the  bot- 
toms of  the  brooders  covered 
with  clean,  sharp  sand.  Some 
of  the  "chick  foods"  consist  of 
mixed  grains  and  a  quantity  of 
crushed  stones,  the  latter  fur- 
nishing the  chicks  with  the  needed  "grit";  of  course  the  hens  must  be 
supplied  with  fresh  water,  for  they  drink  frequently,  and  we  must  remem- 
ber that  over  60  per  cent  of  the  egg  is  water.  Avoid  a  drinking  dish  that 
the  hens  can  walk  into.  A  covered  feeding  dish  for  the  mash  is  best,  one 
that  only  permits  the  hen  to  put  in  her  head.  Salt  in  small  quantities 
helps  the  hen,  but  it  is  a  poison  when  used  to  excess.  It  is  more  necessary 
when  hens  are  yarded  than  when  they  run  at  large.  The  proper  feeding 
of  a  hen  can  only  come  through  long  and  patient  experience.  It  "looks 
easy"  but  proves  a  hard  job. 

The  best  feed  troughs  have  a  cover  which  protects  the  food  and 
prevents  the  hens  from  stepping  into  it.  Two  good  forms  are  shown  at 
Figs.  32-33.  These  are  hinged  at  the  side  or  end,  so  that  the  cover  is  easily 
raised  for  cleaning.  A  convenient  self-feeding  box  for  shells  or  grit  is 
shown  at  Fig.  34.  Another  simple  style  of  self-feeder  appears  at  Fig. 
36.  This  is  made  from  pieces  of  stovepipe.  They  are  closed  at  one 
end,  with  small  holes  cut  at  the  side  near  the  bottom.  They  are  hung 
from  the  roof  by  means  of  wires,  so  that  the 
bottom  hangs  near  the  roost  platform.  They 
can  be  used  for  feeding  charcoal,  shells  or  grit. 
A  drinking  fountain  made  by  inverting  a  tin 
can  over  a  smaller  dish  is  shown  at  Fig.  37. 
For  those  who  do  not  care  to  bother  with  home- 
made devices,  excellent  drinking  fountains  may 
be  had  from  all  dealers  in  poultry  supplies,  and 
they  are  so  cheap  and  durable  that  no  one  need 
Pjq    3Y  be  without  adequate   means   for   supplying  hens 

DRINKING  FOUNTAIN.       and  chicks  with  pure   water. 


CHAPTER  XL 

The   Colony  Plan. 

By  this  is  meant  the  plan  of  letting  the  hens  run  at  large  in  a  field. 
They  are  housed  in  small  buildings  scattered  about  the  field — 40  or  50  to 
the  house.  Mr.  O.  W.  Mapes  keeps  about  1,500  hens  on  the  colony  plan, 
and  the  following  story  of  one  day's  work  will  give  a  good  idea  of  the 
way  such  a  farm  is  conducted.  Mr.  Mapes  selects  the  best  hens  for  breed- 
ers, and  they  are  kept  by  themselves  in  small  houses.  Under  this  system, 
while  the  hens  mingle  during  the  day,  they  usually  go  back  to  their  own 
houses  at  night.  The  colony  system  is  best  adapted  to  the  production  of 
Summer  eggs.  Mr.  Mapes  does  not  claim  a  heavy  yield  in  Winter,  yet 
with  his  systetm  of  handling  his  hens  averages  a  profit  of  over  $1  each  per 
year.     This  is  the  way  the  work  is  done. 

"My  son  and  partner  proposes  to  take  full  charge  of  the  poultry  and 
pigs,  while  I  care  for  the  cows  and  horses.  This  will  give  us  a  chance  to 
form  some  opinion  of  how  much  poultry  it  would  require  to  furnish  a 
full  day's  work  for  a  man,  under  better  and  more  ideal  conditions.  He 
was  up  about  five  o'clock,  and  had  things  well  under  way  when  I 
reached  the  barn.  While  breakfast  was  being  prepared  he  proceeded  first 
to  mix  his  morning  batch  of  feed  for  the  hens.  There  are  1,482  of  them, 
and  he  dumps  four  baskets  of  balanced  ration  into  the  box  on  the  old 
buckboard.  '1  his  weighs  35  pounds  to  the  basket,  making  140  pounds  in  all; 
100  quarts  of  skim-milk  are  then  poured  on  it,  and  the  whole  well  mixed 
with  a  shovel.  This  takes  about  15  minutes.  I  have  found  the  follow- 
ing mixture  to  give  very  satisfactory  results  both  where  fowls  have  free 
range  and  when  confined  in  yards  with  nothing  else  whatever  in  the  way  of 
food,  not  even  green  food  of  any  kind.  Oyster  shells,  grit  and  water  were 
supplied,  of  course,  but  I  hardly  class  those  as  food:  Wheat  bran,  five 
pounds;  wheat  middlings,  five  pounds;  cracked  corn,  10  pounds;  cornmeal, 
10  pounds ;  animal  meal,  two  pounds.  To  this  should  be  added  enough 
skim-milk  to  wet  into  a  mash.  It  makes  a  very  good  mixture  without 
milk,  using  water  instead,  but  milk  is  an  improvement.  For  small  chicks 
the  cracked  corn  should  not  be  very  coarse.  It  is  as  well  to  use  coarse 
ground  cornmeal  in  place  of  cracked  corn  for  the  small  chicks.  For  larger 
chicks  and  for  hens  I  prefer  the  cracked  corn  in  order  to  give  the  gizzard 
a  chance  to  perform  its  normal  functions.  He  passes  the  end  of  the  long 
brooder  house  on  his  way  to  breakfast,  giving  a  pull  on  the  end  of  a  long 
wire  projecting  out  through  the  siding.  This  takes  about  two  seconds, 
and  raises  the  small  drop  doors  in  each  of  the  10  brooder  apartments, 
admitting  about  1,000  chicks  to  the  outdoor  runs  for  exercise,  fresh  air,  etc. 


The    Colony    Plan.  69 

FEEDING  THE  CHICKS.— "The  first  job  after  breakfast  is  to  feed 
the  chicks  in  the  brooder  house.  A  barrel  of  balanced  ration  and  a  can  of 
skim-milk  stand  convenient  in  the  long  hall  as  he  enters.  This  hall  runs 
the  whole  length  (rear)  of  the  60-foot  building,  and  is  four  feet  wide. 
The  first  two  pens  contain  about  100  chicks  each  that  are  four  weeks  old. 
For  these  he  dips  about  1V2  pound  of  feed  in  his  basin,  and  pours  on 
enough  skim-milk  to  wet  it.  After  giving  it  a  few  stirs  with  his  big 
iron  spoon  he  is  ready  for  business,  but  not  more  ready  than  the  chicks 
on  the  other  side  of  the  wire  partition.  To  those  who  are  not  accustomed 
to  it,  the  feeding  of  1,000  chicks  is  an  interesting  sight.  To  us  who  are 
used  to  it  it  is  only  work.  It  requires  a  little  skill  to  open  the  gate  and 
step  into  a  pen  of  100  hungry  chicks,  without  stepping  on  them,  or  allowing 
any  of  them  to  jump  out  into  the  hall.  See  him  dash  a  morsel  of  feed 
through  the .  wire  gate,  to  the  farthest  corner  of  the  pen.  The  wild 
scramble  which  follows  furnishes  his  opportunity  to  step  inside  and  allow 
the  spring  to  close  the  gate  behind  him.  A  hundred  pairs  of  wings  are 
instantly  spread,  and  as  many  of  his  white  pets  land  on  his  basin  as  can 
get  a  foothold.  Brushing  them  gently  aside,  he  places  half  of  his  feed  in 
the  trough,  giving  the  remainder  to  the  chicks  in  the  next  pen.  Pens 
3  and  4  contain  about  the  same  number  of  chicks  that  are  three  weeks  old. 
For  these  he  mixes  a  little  less  of  the  feed,  still  less  for  pens  5  and  6, 
which  are  two  weeks  old,  and  about  12  ounces  for  pens  7  and  8,  which  are 
only  a  week  old.  Pens  9  and  10  are  reserved  for  next  hatch,  now  coming 
out  of  their  shells.  They  will  get  water  to  drink,  and  bread  crumbs 
moistened  with  milk  to  eat  for  first  four  or  five  days.  After  that  they 
get  same  as  the  rest,  and  nothing  else  whatever  except  grit  and  water. 
This  ends  the  morning  duty  for  the  chicks. 

INCUBATOR  WORK. — "The  incubators  come  next.  These  are  in 
another  building,  partly  underground,  also  used  as  a  shop.  The  first 
thing  he  does  on  entering  is  to  light  a  lamp  and  take  the  reading  of  the 
thermometers.  No.  1  read  103  degrees.  These  eggs  have  been  set  a  Week, 
and  this  heat  would  have  been  all  right  a  few  days  ago  during  the  hot 
wave,  but  it  has  now  turned  decidedly  colder,  and  he  gives  the  set  screw 
a  slight  turn  to  the  left.  No.  2  is  hatching  to-day,  and  is  not  to  be  opened. 
The  chicks  are  crowding  against  the  glass  door  so  thick  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  see  the  thermoineter.  Passing  to  No.  3  he  reads  104  degrees. 
The  animal  heat  in  these  eggs  has  raised  the  temperature  since  yesterday, 
but  in  view  of  the  change  in  weather  conditions,  this  is  all  right.  The 
trays  of  eggs  are  next  removed  to  the  long  work  bench,  the  eggs  turned 
and  allowed  to  air  while  the  lamps  are  trimmed  and  filled,  when  they  are 
returned  to  the  incubator  and  the  doors  closed. 

THE  HENS. — "Tt  is  now  6.30  A.  M.,  and  he  is  ready  to  feed  the  hens 
By  the  time  he  has  done  a  few  odd  chores  about  the  barn,  harnessed  his 


70  The    Business    Hen. 

horse  to  the  buckboard,  and  got  under  way,  it  is  seven  o'clock.  His  tools 
are  a  small  fire  shovel  for  dipping  the  wet  mash,  a  large  iron  spoon  for 
scraping  any  dirt  from  the  troughs  and  a  couple  of  feed  pails.  A  medium- 
sized  shovelful  represents  12  ounces  of  dry  feed,  and  his  aim  is  to  allow  a 
shovelful  of  mash  to  each  eight  hens.  Glancing  at  the  figures  on  the 
inside  of  the  door  of  pen  No.  1  tells  him  that  this  flock  contains  49  hens 
(last  count)  and  he  gives  them  six  shovelfuls  of  mash,  and  opens  the  small 
drop  door  which  allows  them  free  range  and  a  drink  of  water  at  the  brook 
or  pond.  There  are  35  flocks,  and  this  is  repeated  until  all  are  served. 
He  finds  a  few  troughs  that  are  damp,  showing  that  yesterday's  supper 
had  not  been  all  eaten  until  morning.  These  have  their  allowance  slightly 
reduced.  By  eight  o'clock  he  is  back  to  the  barn,  and  has  a  couple  of  pails 
of  feed  left  in  his  box.  We  have  settled  down  to  two  feeds  a  day  of  this 
mash  for  the  hens,  and  nothing  else  except  what  little  grass,  grit,  water, 
etc.,  they  find  in  the  fields.  Price  of  wheat  and  corn  has  got  so  high  that 
we  find  the  balanced  ration  at  $30  per  ton  is  less  expensive,  and  I  expect 
less  sickness  and  better  health  than  where  grain  is  kept  constantly  before 
them.  Jesse  only  found  two  dead  chicks  under  the  brooders  this  morning, 
and  no  dead  hens.  This  is  less  than  our  usual  mortality.  Crushed  oyster 
shells  are  always  kept  scattered  about  in  abundance. 

PLAN  OF  BUILDINGS.— "The  houses  I  use  for  laying  stock  are  only 
10x13  feet  on  the  ground,  with  shed  roof.  The  front  is  eight  feet  high,  and 
faces  south.  The  north  side  is  five  feet  four  inches  high.  On  the  south 
side  is  a  door  for  general  use,  a  small  drop  door  6x8  inches  for  hens  to 
pass  in  and  out,  and  one  good-sized  window.  The  large  door  is  near  the 
east  end,  the  small  door  near  the  middle,  and  the  window  near  the  west  end. 
This  permits  the  afternoon  sun  the  greatest  sweep  of  floor  space  in  Winter. 
The  table  for  droppings  is  2^  feet  above  the  floor,  and  extends  along  the 
whole  north  side  of  the  room.  Under  the  table,  on  this  north  side,  is  cut 
a  small  door  2^'2  feet  high  and  one  foot  wide.  Aside  from  this,  the  house 
is  as  near  airtight  and  windproof  as  matched  boards  and  building  paper 
will  make  it.  The  small  door  under  the  roosting  table  on  the  north  side 
is  kept  tightly  closed  in  Winter,  and  in  Summer  it  is  protected  with  wire 
cloth  and  kept  open.  This  permits  a  free  current  of  air  to  circulate 
through  the  house  and  out  at  the  open  window  on  the  opposite  side,  with- 
out striking  the  hens  on  the  perches  above  the  table.  I  formerly  kept 
40  hens  in  each  house,  but  recently  have  increased  to  50  each.  The  1,500 
hens  probably  roam  over  nearly  haff  of  our  farm  of  70  acres,  as  their 
roaming  ground  covers  quite  a  distance  from  the  buildings  in  all  directions. 

BROODER  LAMPS. — "Next  on  the  programme  come  the  trimming 
and  filling  of  the  brooder  lamps.  These  rest  on  the  floor,  and  are  put 
under  the  brooders  from  the  hall,  through  large  openings  in  the  partition, 
leaving  them  exposed  to  full  view  from  the  hall,  and  giving  them  plenty 


The    Colony    Plan.  71 

of  pure,  cool  air.  A  long  shelf  at  convenient  height  contains  an  oil  can, 
matches,  lamp-rag,  etc.  The  lamps  are  lifted  to  the  shelf,  the  screw  cap 
removed  and  filled.  A  puff  of  the  burning  lamp  tells  him  when  it  is  full. 
The  oil  can  is  always  left  open  so  that  no  gas  can  gather  in  it  to  cause  an 
explosion.  Now  the  lamp  is  extinguished,  the  hinged  burner  turned  back 
without  removing  the  tin  chimney,  and  a  sharp  knife  drawn  across  the 
top  of  wick  tube,  removing  soot,  charred  wick,  etc.  As  soon  as  the 
burner  is  wiped  clean,  care  being  taken  to  remove  all  particles  of  dirt  from 
the  perforated  brass  which  admits  fresh  air  to  the  flame,  the  match  is 
applied.  The  burner  is  still  hot,  and  the  piece  of  emery  paper  above  the 
shelf  is  so  located  that  the  same  stroke  which  ignites  the  match,  brings  it 
across  the  top  of  the  wick,  and  lights  it,  without  waiting  to  see  whether  the 
wood  of  the  match  is  going  to  ignite.  Five  quarts  of  oil  and  15  minutes' 
time  are  required  for  the  10  lamps.  They  will  need  no  more  attention  for 
24  hours.  The  brooders  in  Nos.  9  and  10  must  be  got  ready  for  the  chicks 
now  hatching.  They  are  scraped  as  clean  as  possible,  smeared  with 
kerosene  as  a  preventive  of  lice,  and  the  floor  under  the  hover  covered 
with  sand.  They  will  be  nice  and  warm  by  the  time  the  chicks  are  ready 
for  removal  to-morrow.  The  drinking  fountains  are  next  filled  with  fresh 
water,  and  the  regular  morning  work  is  accomplished  by  8.30  A.  M. 

PACKING  EGGS. — "The  work  of  cleaning,  stamping  and  packing  the 
eggs  for  the  market  usually  falls  to  some  of  the  women  folks,  but  Jesse 
relieves  them  of  it  to-day.  There  are  845  eggs  in  the  baskets  gathered 
yesterday.  These  are  first  placed  in  a  large  tin  pan,  and  sufficient  luke- 
warm water  poured  over  them  to  cover  them.  With  a  washrag  spread  over 
the  palm  of  the  left  hand  he  takes  them  out  of  the  warm  water  one  by 
one  with  the  right  hand,  gives  one  end  of  the  egg  a  turn  against  the  cloth- 
covered  palm  of  the  other  hand,  reverses  and  gives  the  other  end  of  the 
egg  a  turn,  laying  them  in  regular  rows  on  a  thick  soft  cloth  covering  the 
long  table  on  which  he  works  in  the  wash  room.  An  occasional  egg  that 
is  badly  stained  is  laid  one  side,  to  be  recleaned'  later  on  with  vinegar  oi 
sapolio.  The  heat  retained  from  the  lukewarm  water  in  the  pan  causes 
them  to  dry  quickly  as  they  lie  on  the  soft  cloth,  retaining  the  peculiar 
glow  of  the  new-laid  egg.  Before  he  packs  them  in  crates,  each  egg  is 
touched  with  a  small  rubber  stamp,  made  on  a  very  soft  air  cushion, 
placing  the  name  and  address  of  the  producer  on  its  sfiell.  Every  egg  we 
ship  to  market  is  expected  to  carry  a  little  bit  of  character  with  it,  and 
send  back  in  return  a  little  bit  of  extra  cash.  It  will  take  him  about  two 
hours  to  clean  and  pack  the  845  eggs,  and  while  he  is  doing  it  I  drive  to 
town  with  our  regular  shipment  of  eggs,  and  bring  back  our  regular  supply 
of  skim-milk.  He  would  have  had  ample  time  for  this  also.  The  advent 
of  wife  and  baby  has  not  spoiled  his  zest  for  the  boyish  sport  of  fishing. 
Long  before  my  return   from  town  he  is  at  the  pond,  with  rod  and  gun. 


72  The    Business    Hen. 

looking  for  a  mess  of  fish,  and  a  large  hen  hawk  he  has  had  his  eye  on 
for  several  days.  The  chicks  two  weeks  old  and  less  got  a  light  lunch 
of  feed  before  he  started  out,  from  the  same  barrel  as  for  breakfast.  The 
older  chicks  were  getting  hungry,  too,  but  must  wait  for  their  regular 
three  meals  a  day. 

AFTERNOON  WORK.— "After  dinner  the  same  routine  of  feeding 
the  chicks  is  gone  through  as  in  the  morning.  He  now  has  time  on  his 
hands  again  until  three  o'clock,  and  improves  the  opportunity  to  clean  up 
his  buggy  and  harness.  At  3  P.  M.  the  buckboard  is  again  loaded  with 
mash  for  the  hens,  using  about  20  pounds  less  than  for  the  morning  feed, 
since  a  little  was  left  in  the  box.  The  hens  are  at  liberty  this  time,  and 
come  to  meet  him  in  large  numbers,  the  wagon  often  being  covered  with 
the  greedy  white  beauties.  This  is  the  weak  spot  in  feeding  a  number  of 
flocks  that  have  free  range.  A  little  practice,  however,  enables  one  to 
apportion  the  feed  quite  uniformly. 

EVENING  FEED. — "The  pigs  get  their  supper  (same  as  breakfast") 
as  soon  as  the  hens  are  all  fed,  and  at  4.30  Jesse  starts  out  with  five  big 
baskets  to  gather  up  the  eggs.  It  takes  him  a  few  minutes  more  than  an 
hour  to  gather  them  and  carry  them  up  to  the  house,  and  he  has  804  as  the 
result  of  the  day's  work.  By  5.45  the  chickens  are  again  fed,  and  the 
eggs  in  the  incubator  turned.  This  finishes  the  day's  work,  all  except 
pulling  the  wire  in  the  brooder  house  and  closing  the  entrances  to  the  hen- 
houses. He  has  used  260  pounds  of  feed,  costing  at  $30  per  ton,  $3.90, 
and  4J^  cans  of  skim-milk,  costing  10  cents  per  can,  for  the  hens.  This 
is  a  total  of  $4.35.  The  market  quotation  for  eggs  to-day  is  17^2  cents. 
We  get  five  cents  per  dozen  above  market  quotations,  for  our  guaranteed 
eggs  at  present  22^4  cents.  The  804  eggs,  which  is  rather  under  the 
daily  average  for  the  past  week,  are  thus  worth  $15.07,  leaving  a  margin  oi 
profit  of  over  $10  aside  from  my  prospective  profits  in  the  growth  of  the 
pigs  and  broilers.  This  is  not  a  big  story,  but  it  has  the  merit  of  being 
literally  true.  When  cur  henhouses  were  first  built,  we  used  to  close  the 
entrances  at  night  by  pressing  an  electric  button.  The  expense  of  keeping 
the  battery  charged,  and  the  trouble  of  keeping  the  line  in  perfect  order 
has  caused  it  to  fall  into  innocuous  desuetude.  We  are  now  arranging  to 
drop  and  raise  the  doors  by  pulling  a  wire,  after  the  plan  in  use  in  our 
brooder  houses." 


CHAPTER     XII. 

A  Market  Gardener's  Hens. 

We,  that  is  my  wife  and  I,  own  a  small  farm  of  30  acres,  which  we 
are  devoting  to  a  variety  of  interests ;  chief  of  these  are  the  growing  of 
small  fruits,  market  garden  and  truck  crops;  but  we  also  keep  two  cows, 
about  20  hogs,  a  dozen  hives  of  bees  and  a  flock  of  from  125  to  130  hens. 
We  have  kept  accurate  records,  and  find  that  in  four  years  during  the  six 
months  that  require  more  or  less  housing  the  flock  has  averaged  37  eggs  to 
each  100  hens  per  day.  The  flock  comprised  quite  a  number  of  older  hens 
a  part  of  the  time.  A  difference  is  plainly  seen  in  the  last  year  of  the 
table  below,  when  the  entire  flock  consisted  of  pullets.  The  number  of 
dozens  laid  each  month  is  as  follows: 

1899. 

1900. 

November    29 

December    64 

January    145 

February    143 

March    162 

April    162 

There  has  been  something  of  a  variety  of  breeds  in  this  flock.  Good 
grade  mongrels  with  a  large  dash  of  Leghorn  blood,  purebred  Barred 
Plymouth  Rocks,  Black  Minorcas  and  White  Wyandottes  all  figured  largely 
in  the  flock  at  some  time  during  the  period,  and  they  showed  very  little 
difference  in  their  laying  qualities.  What  slight  difference  I  could  detect 
was  to  the  credit  of  the  Wyandottes,  and  the  entire  flock  is  now  composed 
of  that  breed.  As  the  hens  have  occupied  the  same  quarters,  and  the  treat- 
ment has  been  practically  the  same  during  the  whole  period,  I  will  describe 
both  in  detail.  Small  fruits  and  truck  crops  are  grown  in  considerable 
quantities ;  these  are  largely  sold  at  retail,  and  between  managing  the  work 
in  the  fields  and  marketing  the  crops  my  time  is  pressingly  occupied  during 
the  Summer;  but  as  we  do  not  board  the  help  my  wife,  who  is  a  true  lover 
of  hens  and  chickens,  rears  the  young  stock  and  takes  general  oversight 
of  the  poultry  department.  Under  her  care  the  pullets  are  always  in  prime 
condition  in  the  Fall.-  Only  Summer  crops  are  grown,  and  the  men  are 
hired  only  for  the  busy  season.     So  after  the  season  is  closed  by  frost  in 


1900. 

1901. 

1902. 

1901. 

1902. 

1903. 

53 

47 

59 

97 

74 

90 

107 

115 

153 

94 

100 

167 

138 

163 

201 

138 

150 

189 

74  The    Business    Hen. 

the  Fall  there  is  no  produce  to  market  but  eggs  and  butter,  and  these  are 
sold  at  wholesale  and  sent  by  a  neighboring  butcher.  Our  market,  Harris- 
burg,  is  eight  miles  away.  Then,  being  relieved  from  the  press  of  Summer 
work,  I  give  my  first  attention  to  the  care  of  the  hens  and  other  live  stock. 
To  show  how  well  such  work  may  be  made  to  pay  even  in  a  small  way,  I 
will  state  that  the  gross  receipts  at  present  for  the  butter  and  eggs  from 
two  cows  and  130  hens  are  at  the  rate  of  about  $60  per  month.  The  five 
or  six  hours  each  day  that  are  not  required  for  this  work  I  usually  devote 
to  pruning  and  general  preparations  for  the  next  season's  work. 

WINTER  MANAGEMENT. — Having  on  hand  the  proper  number  of 
hens  or  pullets — the  latter  preferred — well-bred,  well-reared  and  vigor- 
ous as  possible  with  the  first  approach  of  uncomfortably  cool  weather 
in  Fall  they  are  confined  to  their  houses  in  the  early  morning  and  on 
stormy  days.  As  the  season  advances  they  are  shut  in  entirely,  ex- 
cept that  when  the  weather  is  fine  and  there  is  no  snow  they  are  oc- 
casionally allowed  to  run  in  the  yard  for  10  or  15  minutes,  and  then  re- 
turned. During  mid-winter  they  have  been  constantly  confined  for 
two  months  at  a  time  with  no  bad  results.  The  entire  flock  is  housed 
in  two  separate  apartments  which  are  by  no  means  ideal.  The  larger 
of  these  is  a  room  12x28  feet,  arranged  in  the  northwestern  end  of  the 
basement  of  a  bank  barn.  Necessarily  the  windows  are  in  the  north- 
west and  southwest  sides ;  hence,  they  are  not  well  adapted  for  the  admis- 
sion of  either  sunshine  or  ventilation.  These  defects  are  reduced  by  a 
door  which  opens  to  the  southeast  under  the  "overshot"  of  the  barn.  This 
door  is  fitted  with  a  screen,  hence  can  be  left  open  when  necessary.  The 
rear  wall  of  this  room  of  course  is  of  stone,  the  other  three  are  of  matched 
boards.  The  floor  consists  of  packed  clay,  except  a  section  12x12  feet 
in  the  rear,  which  is  of  boards ;  this  is  occupied  by  the  roost.  As  may  be 
supposed  from  its  location,  this  room  is  just  barely  dry  enough  not  to  give 
trouble.  The  smaller  is  a  house  of  the  common  shed-roof  construction, 
measuring  7x30  feet.  This  is  built  of  rough  boards  and  battened.  It  has 
a  good  exposure,  but  is  too  high  and  narrow,  which  makes  it  colder  than 
it  would  otherwise  be.  The  floor  is  of  clay  throughout.  The  roost  in  this 
house  occupies  a  space  of  7x10  feet.  In  each  house  the  perches  are  low, 
18  inches,  are  built  in  one  piece  trestle  fashion  and  rest  on  the  floor,  so 
they  are  easily  kept  free  from  lice  and  moved  for  cleaning  the  house. 
Besides  the  roosts  the  furnishings  in  each  house  consist  of  a  row  of  a  dozen 
nest  boxes,  a  self-feeding  shell-box,  a  galvanized  iron  trough  for  water,  a 
box  for  the  dust  bath  and  several  wooden  troughs  for  feeding  mash. 
There  is  nothing  about  the  buildings  that  may  not  be  arranged  or  built 
on  almost  any  farm  at  moderate  cost.  The  space  not  occupied  by  the  roosts 
is  covered  with  a  litter  of  forest  leaves,  in  which  all  the  grain  is  fed.  1 
have  never  found  anything  near  so  well  adapted  to  the  purpose  as  leaves. 


A  Market  Gardener's  Hens.  75 

GENERAL  CARE. — Once  a  week  the  floors  are  thoroughly  cleaned, 
the  manure  is  scraped  up,  the  soiled  litter  removed,  the  whole  floor 
swept  and  then  fresh  leaves  put  in.  This  is  very  important,  and  must 
not  be  postponed,  as  nothing  will  cause  hens  to  lose  their  tone  and 
vigor  more  quickly  than  eating  from  foul  litter.  Of  course  ventilation 
is  freely  given  by  opening  windows  or  screened  doors  so  as  not  to  cause 
a  draft.  In  severe  weather  all  is  kept  close,  ventilating  thoroughly 
two  or  three  times  a  day  when  the  hens  are  busy.  Clean  water  is 
given  every  morning  and  warm  water  added  when  cold  enough  to 
freeze.  The  dust  bath  is  renewed  once  in  two  weeks.  No  roosters 
are  kept  in  the  flock.  The  food  consists  of  corn,  oats,  wheat,  corn- 
chop  and  bran,  beef  scrap,  cabbage,  hay  and  milk.  The  quantity  the 
hens  will  eat  varies  with  the  number  of  eggs  produced ;  but  last  Winter, 
when  the  flock  was  at  its  best,  and  the  quantity  of  food  had  been  the  same 
for  more  than  a  month,  I  took  a  note  of  the  exact  quantity,  and  comparing 
this  with  the  amount  fed  this  season  since  they  are  in  full  laying  condition 

1  find  it  is  practically  the  same.  The  quantity  for  100  hens  per  day  is  about 
as  follows:  Corn,  3%  quarts;  oats,  six  quarts;  wheat,  five  quarts;  corn- 
chop  and  bran,  mixed  equal  parts  by  weight  for  the  mash,  six  quarts ;  beei 
scrap,  one  pint  every  second  day;  cabbage,  three  or  four  small  to  medium 
heads.  About  a  peck  of  hay  shatterings,  mostly  clover,  such  as  collects 
where  hay  is  thrown  down,  is  given  every  few  days. 

FEEDING  SYSTEM.— Not  less  important  than  the  variety  and 
quantity  of  food  is  its  proper  distribution  throughout  the  day.  In 
this  it  is  well  to  remember  the  conditions  in  the  Spring  that  usually 
induce  the  laziest  hen  to  lay.  The  warm  weather,  new  grass  and 
insects  coax  her  out,  and  she  eats  all  day  long,  but  only  a  little  at  a 
time,  she  becomes  interested  and  busy.  This  is  the  vital  point.  No 
moping  hen  ever  laid  many  eggs.  With  these  facts  in  view  the  hens 
are  fed  little  and  often,  six  times  in  a  day,  as  follows:  Early  in  the 
morning  they  are  given  iVi  quart  of  oats.  They  wake  up  and  take 
some  exercise  scratching  for  this,  and  then  at  eight  o'clock  they  get  their 
mash.     At  10  o'clock  1^  quart  of  oats  are  again  given  and  the  same  at 

2  P.  M.  The  noon  feed  consists  of  two  quarts  of  wheat,  and  the  evening 
feed,  which  is  intended  to  be  all  they  will  eat,  is  S^/^  quarts  of  corn,  three 
quarts  of  wheat  and  1^2  quart  oats.  The  cabbage  is  invariably  fed  in  the 
evening  after  the  grain.  Milk  and  beef  scrap  are  mixed  in  the  mash.  I 
have  found  mangels  a  fair  substitute  for  cabbage.  Caution  should  be 
exercised  not  to  overfeed  either  of  these  or  any  other  "greens,"  as  it  is 
sure  to  cause  a  derangement  of  appetite.  It  will  be  noticed  that  oats  are 
fed  in  small  quantities  and  often.  I  consider  them  a  very  important  pari 
of  the  ration  on  account  of  their  bulk,  but  experience  has  made  me  cautious 
of  feeding  any  large  quantity  at  a  time.     Now,  to  those  not  accustomed  to 


TC  llic  Business  llc:i. 

giving  any  but  the  most  ordinary  care  to  their  hens,  the  foregoing  may 
seem  like  all  too  much  "fuss  and  feathers"  to  obtain  eggs  even  in  Winter; 
but  the  hen  trust  has  its  price  and  it  is  doubtful  if  eggs  can  be  had  in 
quantity  for  much  less.  After  all  if  the  work  is  done  methodically  it  is 
not  such  an  endless  round  as  may  at  first  appear.  Thus,  in  beginning  the 
morning  chores,  I  first  give  the  hens  their  bit  of  oats,  a  "scratch"  we  call  it, 
after  doing  the  other  work  the  mash  is  given.  The  noon  feed  comes  in 
with  the  rest  of  the  stock  feeding.  The  evening  chores  are  begun  by  giving 
the  hens  their  grain;  then  after  gathering  the  eggs  the  cabbage  is  dis- 
tributed. This  leaves  no  extra  running  after  the  chickens,  but  to  give 
them  their  "scratch"  at  10  and  two  o'clock.  This  requires  but  a  few 
minutes  when  I  am  about  the  barn,  and  when  in  the  field  pruning  or  absent 
from  home  my  wife  says  it  gives  her  exercise  as  well  as  the  hens.  Some 
one  will  be  sure  to  ask  what  is  to  be  done  if  the  hens  lack  appetite.  I  must 
say  I  have  had  little  trouble  in  this  line.  It  is  natural  for  hens  to  eat 
heartily  if  conditions  are  right.  If  they  are  fed  lightly  and  often  during 
the  day,  with  a  full  feed  at  night,  a  proper  ration  of  proper  bulk;  if  pro- 
tected from  drafts  and  floors  are  kept  clean ;  if,  when  making  a  change  of 
food,  care  is  taken  to  feed  sparingly  at  first  there  should  be  little  trouble. 
I  have  never  had  anything  so  serious  but  what  was  easily  corrected  bj 
feeding  scantily  for  a  day  or  two.  Perhaps  the  old  saying:  "Eternal  vigi- 
lance is  the  price  of  success"  does  not  apply  better  anywhere  than  to  man- 
aging hens  in  Winter,  but  I  think  where  the  vigilance  is  exercised  the 
success  is  sure. 


HOMEMADE    GRAIN    SCREEN.— Examine    a    sample    of    cracked 
corn   and   you   will   be   surprised  to   see   how   much   fine   meal   it   contains. 

When  this  feed  is  thrown  on 
the  ground  most  of  the  meal 
is  wasted,  as  the  chicks  cannot 
pick  it  up  easily.  Mr.  J.  E. 
Stevenson  saves  this  waste  by 
using  the  device  shown  here- 
with. A  hopper  is  arranged  at 
the  fop  of  the  stairs.  Screens 
one  foot  wide  and  three  feet 
long  are  made  out  of  three 
sizes  of  wire  netting.  These 
screens  run  under  the  stairs 
and  the  hopper  feeds  into  the 
coarser  one.  These  screens 
sift  the  corn  into  three  sizes  and  save  a  good  share  of  the  meal. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
The  Boy's  Hens. 

We  moved  to  town  one  Winter  and  were  able  to  hire  a  small  henhouse. 
We  had  sold  the  best  pullets  on  the  farm,  and  had  left  only  a  mixed  lot 
of  old  hens  and  young  roosters.  We  took  about  20  of  these  birds  to  town, 
killing  and  eating  them  from  time  to  time.  Early  in  February  there  were 
only  three  hens  left,  and  the  little  boy  begged  for  them,  so  that  he  might 
try  "the  chicken  business."  His  best  argument  was  that  the  table  scraps 
would  nearly  feed  the  hens,  thus  turning  what  we  would  not  eat  into  what 
we  would  be  glad  to  have.  I  thought  he  would  soon  tire  of  it,  but  to  my 
surprise  he  became  interested,  and  gave  his  hens  good  care.  By  mixing  a 
small  amount  of  wheat  bran  with  the  scraps  he  kept  the  hens  laying  and 
in  good  condition.  When  I  saw  that  he  had  become  interested  enough  to 
work  for  the  hens  I  knew  that  he  had  caught  the  chicken  fever.  An  indus- 
trious hen  may  lead  a  lazy  boy  into  habits  of  hustle.  I  told  the  boy  that  if 
he  could  make  his  three  hens  lay  13  eggs  in  a  week,  I  would  start  him  with 
a  larger  flock.  The  next  week  they  laid  15  eggs.  Of  course  the  boy,  like 
most  beginners  with  poultry,  felt  sure  that  if  he  could  make  three  hens 
lay  well,  there  is  no  good  reason  why  he  could  not  do  as  well  with  .30,  300 
or  3,000.     It  takes  a  large  unpaid  grain  bill  to  cure  one  of  that  idea. 

BUYING  HENS.— We  went  to  New  York  for  new  hens.  Those  left 
on  the  farm  were  poor  specimens,  and  the  boy  wanted  to  try  different 
breeds.  I  have  bought  live  poultry  in  New  York  many  times.  One  year 
I  bought  150  hens  and  pullets,  and  imported  roup,  lice  and  various  other 
troubles.  Eggs  from  those  New  York  hens  cost  me  eight  cents  apiece 
through  January  and  February,  but  they  laid  fairly  well  in  the  Summerj 
and  just  about  paid  for  their  feed  and  original  cost.  I  conclude  that  hens 
usually  sent  to  the  live  market  are  just  about  such  culls  as  we  had  at  the 
farm.  It  stands  to  reason  that  no  one  will  knowingly  sell  a  good  laying 
hen  for  meat  any  more  than  they  would  sell  a  good  Jersey  cow  for  beef. 
We  found  one  place  where  a  number  of  good  hens  had  been  sold  to  close 
out  an  estate,  and  the  dealer,  who  knew  a  good  hen,  had  sorted  out  the 
best  to  sell  as  layers.  Crowded  into  his  coops  and  fed  nothing  but  corn, 
they  were  laying  eggs  enough  to  pay  for  their  food  twice  over.  After 
much  debate  the  boy  bought  three  Brown  Leghorns,  three  White  Wyan- 
dottes,  one  White  Leghorn  and  one  Light  Brahma.  As  it  turned  out  he 
would  have  done  better  if  he  had  bought  all  Brown  Leghorns,  but  he 
wanted  to  test  the  different  breeds.  You  may  read  about  such  things,  but 
it  is  better  to  learn  from  your  own  experience  1 


78  The    Business    Hen. 

STARTING  THE  HENS.— These  birds  came  out  by  express,  and  the 
boy  was  all  ready  for  them.  He  had  bought  a  package  of  "chicken  powder" 
which  looked  like  a  mixture  of  fine  tobacco  and  sulphur.  He  took  one 
hen  at  a  time,  held  lier  up  gently  by  the  legs  and  dusted  the  powder  into 
her  feathers,  taking  care  to  work  plenty  of  it  under  the  wings  and  around 
and  under  the  tail  feathers,  and  along  the  neck  and  shoulders,  as  these 
are  the  hardest  places  for  the  hen  to  reach.  The  boy  learned  from  the 
poultry  dealer  not  to  run  or  shout  at  a  hen  if  she  gets  away,  or  to  pull  and 
shake  her  if  she  flutters  in  your  hand.  You  must  be  as  gentle  as  possible 
with  your  hens  if  you  expect  them  to  lay.  The  laying  hen  is  active,  lively 
and  nervous,  but  she  does  not  want  you  to  string  up  her  nerves.  The  boy 
expected  that  when  his  11  hens  were  put  together  in  the  house  they  would 
act  like  sisters,  and  have  only  one  ambition — that  of  laying  eggs !  Instead 
of  that  the  three  original  hens  singled  out  the  Light  Brahma  and  attacked 
her  vigorously.  Hens  often  show  these  strange  dislikes,  and  when  taken 
to  a  new  place  they  always  "dry  up"  for  a  time  and  will  not  lay  until  they 
feel  at  home.  The  Brown  Leghorns  were  first  to  call  their  new  place  home 
and  begin  to  lay.  The  White  Wyandottes  followed,  but  the  Light  Brahma 
was  very  slow.. 

FEEDING  A  SMALL  FLOCK.— The  table  scraps  and  wastes  and 
parings  from  vegetables  and  fruits  gave  these  hens  more  than  half  the  food 
they  required.  In  order  to  provide  the  remainder  the  boy  mixed  the  fol- 
lowing: Two  parts  by  weight  of  wheat  bran,  one  part  cornmeal,  one  part 
of  wheat  middlings  and  one-half  part  animal  meal.  This  was  fed  in  the 
form  of  a  dry  crumbly  mash  in  the  morning,  with  a  good  handful  of  clover 
heads  and  leaves  mixed  with  it.  The  hot  water  used  for  rinsing  off  the 
breakfast  plates  was  good  to  dampen  this  grain.  Wheat  bran  is  one  of 
the  best  grains  for  hens,  but  they  do  not  like  it  when  fed  alone.  Of  al! 
grains  corn  in  some  form  is  best  relished  by  poultry,  and  cornmeal  or 
cracked  corn  should  go  in  the  mash.  There  are  only  two  good  reasons 
why  a  mash  should  be  fed — it  gives  a  good  chance  to  provide  warm  food 
and  enables  us  to  feed  meat  in  the  right  proportion.  I  am  quite  sure  that 
the  mixture  of  grain  and  meat  baked  into  a  cake  and  crumbled  up  for 
feeding  would  pay  better  than  a  soft  mash.  The  boy  fed  whole  corn  at 
night,  and  made  the  common  mistake  of  most  beginners  of  overfeeding  his 
hens.  He  kept  too  much  food  before  them.  Some  of  it  soured.  The  hens 
lost  their  ambition  to  work  and  hunt  for  food.  The  Brown  Leghorns 
held  their  ambition  longest,  because  it  was  part  of  their  breeding,  but 
what  hens  or  men  ever  do  their  best  when  they  know  the  good  things  of 
life  are  being  wasted  on  them?  It  took  the  boy  some  time  to  learn  what 
every  feeder  must  know,  that  the  hens  must  be  made  to  scratch  for  most  of 
their  food.  Maybe  the  boy  learned  something  about  his  own  habits  of 
industry  by  watching  these  hens.     Some  things  at  least  he  did  well.     He 


The  Boy's  Hens.  79 

kept  plenty  of  clean  water  and  oyster  shells  before  the  hens  at  all  times, 
and  he  kept  the  house  clean.  The  hens  responded — at  least  some  of  them 
did — and  owing  to  the  low  cost  of  the  table  scraps  gave  us  eggs  that  cost 
less  than  half  a  cent  apiece  while  they  were  worth  four  cents  in  the  local 
market. 

A  LARGER  FLOCK. — Of  course  the  boy,  like  all  poultrymen,  wanted  a 
larger  flock.  Somehow  we  all  come  to  think  that  if  we  could  only  have 
more  land,  or  more  cows,  or  more  hens,  we  can  make  growth  on  our 
ability  as  we  do  on  our  stock.  When  we  came  back  to  the  farm  the  boy 
found  nine  more  hens,  and  a  White  Wyandotte  rooster.  The  hens  were  a 
mixed  lot,  but  the  rooster  was  a  good  one.  They  had  all  had  a  hard 
Winter,  sleeping  in  the  barn  or  in  an  old  henhouse  without  much  care. 
The  old  farm  chicken-yard  was  to  be  used  as  a  garden,  so  the  boy  cut  poles 
in  the  woods  and  helped  to  build  a  new  yard  at  the  back  of  an  aban- 
doned ice  house,  which  was  a  henhouse  years  before.  He  dug  holes  for  his 
posts,  and  then  a  six-foot  chicken  fence  was  tacked  around  with  a  base- 
board nailed  at  the  bottom.  We  have  tried  piling  stones  around  the 
base,  but  this  does  not  answer.  The  boy  made  clean  nests  of  straw,  dust- 
ing them  well  with  his  chicken  powder.  The  roosts  were  not  nailed 
down,  but  put  in  sockets,  so  that  they  can  be  lifted  out  and  cleaned  easily. 
Every  morning  he  took  a  pickax  and  spade  and  dug  up  the  ground  in  the 
yard,  thus  providing  worms  for  the  hens.  There  were  many  leaves  and 
parings  in  the  table  scraps,  but  the  boy  pulled  grass  and  weeds  and  fed 
them  freely,  for  hens  like  green  food.  The  boy  began  to  understand 
something  about  the  different  kinds  of  lice  that  make  hens  miserable. 
The  little  mites  that  pass  the  day  on  the  under  side  of  the  roost  are  bad 
citizens — night  robbers,  for  they  crawl  up  at  night  and  attack  the  hens. 
We  can  make  life  a  burden  to  them  by  keeping  the  under  side  of  the 
roost  well  smeared  with  grease.  Every  now  and  then  the  roosts  must  be 
taken  out  and  washed  with  boiling  water,  and  then  painted  with  kero- 
sene. The  large  gray  lice  that  stay  on  the  hens  are  easier  to  fight  if  we 
give  the  hens  a  fair  chance  to  keep  clean.  A  vigorous  hen  will  dust  in  the 
dry  soil  or  in  a  box  of  dry  coal  ashes  and  free  herself  of  most  of  these 
lice.  A  good  dusting  with  some  "chicken  powder"  or  fine  tobacco  will 
finish  up.  I  know  of  people  who  read  somewhere  that  kerosene  is  the 
thing  to  kill  lice  with,  so  they  took  some  hens  and  rubbed  kerosene  over 
them !  They  could  not  have  done  a  worse  thmg,  for  it  took  hide  and 
feathers  off  the  hens.  A  mixture  of  lard  and  sulphur  rubbed  under  the 
wings  and  at  the  base  of  the  neck  will  help,  but  do  not  put  pure  kerosene 
on  the  hen.  The  boy  found  that  there  is  little  use  fighting  the  lice  on  the 
hens  if  the  building  is  neglected.  Most  old  farm  buildings  are  alive  with 
vermin,  which  breed  in  filth,  so  that  they  must  be  kept  clean.  The  manure 
ought  to  be  scraped  out  twice  a  week  at  least.     In  spite  of  the  "chicken 


80  The    Business     Hen. 

powder"  the  nests  will  soon  be  alive.  The  hay  or  straw  should  be  taken 
out  and  burned,  and  the  boxes  painted  with  kerosene  before  new  nests  are 
made.  The  whole  inside  of  the  house  should  be  scrubbed  out  with  boiling 
water,  and  whitewashed  or  sprayed  with  kerosene.  The  boy  found  to  his 
cost  that  you  cannot  afford  to  neglect  these  things  in  an  old  house.  He 
also  found  that  some  old  building  fitted  up  in  this  way  cannot  be  made 
equal  to  a  house  built  especially  for  hens. 

KEEPING  UP  THE  FLOCK.— The  boy  started  with  the  notion  that 
"a  hen  is  a  hen,"  without  much  regard  to  her  breeding  or  age.  He  had 
heard  some  one  say  that  "a  hen  is  a  machine,"  and  he  knew  that  we  can  use 
the  mowing  machine  and  hayrake  for  many  years.  He  was  grieved  to  find 
that  some  of  his  hens  were  sad  loafers.  Three  of  those  he  bought  in  New 
York  ate  their  fill  of  grain,  and  then  instead  of  heading  for  the  nests  stood 
about  dumpy  and  lazy.  What  was  the  matter  with  them?  They  and  four 
of  the  farm  hens  proved  to  be  at  least  four  years  old,  and  probably  six. 
They  were  like  our  old  mowing  machine — worn  out.  One  day  the  men  dug 
through  the  yard  to  get  at  a  cracked  water  pipe  under  the  barn.  They 
threw  out  thousands  of  worms.  These  old  veterans  ate  so  many  that  the 
next  morning  five  of  them  were  found  dead,  with  their  crops  stuck  full. 
The  boy  buried  his  beloved  hens  around  peach  trees,  and  with  many  tears 
learned  that  age  in  a  hen  is  not  entitled  to  respect.  When  Grandmother 
failed  to  step  about  as  spry  as  her  daughters  we  expected  it,  and  were  all 
glad  to  give  her  the  most  comfortable  chair  and  the  best  light.  The  hen 
is  sure  to  fail  with  age  just  as  Grandmother  did,  but  we  do  not  keep  her 
for  the  good  she  has  done.  So  the  boy  began  to  understand  that  he  must 
plan  for  new  pullets  each  year  and  dispose  of  the  old  stock.  He  now  saw 
that  the  hens  he  bought  in  New  York  were  probably  birds  that  had  done 
their  best,  laying  for  some  one  else,  and  were  then  sold  for  meat.  We  are 
also  likely  to  have  accidents  in  the  flock.  One  good  hen  tried  to  fly  up 
to  a  high  roost,  but  failed,  and  fell  and  broke  an  egg  inside  of  her.  She 
had  to  be  killed.  This  taught  the  boy  to  have  his  roosts  down  low,  and 
made  it  clearer  still  that  we  must  have  young  pullets  each  year. 

PICKING  OUT  LAYERS.— Having  seen  the  need  of  young  hens  the 
boy  began  to  see  that  one  young  hen  may  be  better  than  another.  He 
could  see  that  the  men  and  boys  we  hired  to  work  on  the  farm  did  not 
do  an  equal  amount  of  work.  Some  did  more  and  better  work  than  others, 
though  all  wanted  the  same  wages  when  working  by  the  day.  Sometimes 
the  man  who  did  the  poorest  job  of  work  would  eat  most,  or  break  most 
tools.  There  seemed  to  be  much  the  same  difiference  in  hens.  The  Light 
Brahma  waited  nearly  a  month  before  she  laid  an  egg,  though  she  ate  her 
full  share,  and  then  laid  a  dozen  in  succession.  One  of  the  Brown  Leg- 
horns proved  to  be  lazy.  Of  course  the  boy  did  not  want  any  more  drones. 
It  may  be  fun  to  feed  a  lazy  pet  hen  when  some  one  else  pays  for  the  feed, 


Ike  Boy's  Hens.  81 

Lut  when  it  means  a  loss  of  your  own  money,  you  soon  get  tired  of  it.  The 
boy  began  to  see  if  he  could  pick  out  the  layers.  He  found  it  was  not 
hard  to  do  so.  You  can  catch  most  of  them  on  the  nest.  They  go  around 
singing  and  scratching,  and  the  egg-layers  are  usually  the  liveliest  hens  and 
the  best  eaters.  It  is  not  safe  to  go  by  any  single  one  of  these  signs. 
Sometimes  a  hen  goes  on  the  nest  with  no  intention  of  laying.  The  lazy 
Brown  Leghorn  made  more  noise  after  laying  one  egg  than  the  other 
two  did  over  three,  and  the  Light  Brahma  and  the  lazy  Wyandotte  ate  their 
fill  and  then  moped  on  the  roost.  You  cannot  tell  layers  by  any  one 
test,  but  after  a  good  study  of  the  actions  of  the  hen  you  can  pick  them 
out.  The  boy  had  specimens  of  four  different  breeds  in  his  little  flock, 
and  he  found  that  all  these  breeds  contained  workers  as  well  as  drones. 
Before  long  he  learned  that  half  the  hens  did  more  than  three-fourths  of 
the  laying.  It  was  good  business  to  eat  the  eggs  from  the  lazy  hens  and 
keep  those  from  the  workers  for  setting.  The  boy  had  noticed  how  many 
children  there  are  who  "look  like  father  and  act  like  mother."  This  is  the 
principle  of  breeding  which  hen  men  ought  to  learn  by  heart.  The  boy 
will  learn  later  that  some  of  the  old  hens  may  be  good  breeders,  though 
their  granddaughters  may  outlay  them. 

BREEDING  TO  TYPE.— At  first  the  boy  though  it  wise  to  set  eggs 
from  all  the  best  layers,  no  matter  what  color  and  shape  they  might  be. 
Then  he  remembered  that  the  poultryman  wanted  a  dollar  apiece  for  the 
Leghorns,  while  the  spotted  hens  of  all  shapes  and  colors  sold  at  a  price  per 
pound.  Whenever  people  told  him  about  a  man  who  was  doing  well  with 
poultry  he  was  sure  to  find  on  that  man's  farm  hens  of  one  color  and 
much  the  same  shape.  In  years  before,  when  we  had  all  sorts  of  pullets, 
no  one  cared  to  buy  them,  but  when  we  had  bred  pure  Leghorns  and 
Wyandottes  a  dozen  people  were  after  them.  That  showed  him  that  if 
you  expect  to  get  the  best  price  for  your  hens  you  must  have  them  uniform, 
with  the  marks  of  some  well-known  breed.  A  spotted  hen  may  be  a  fine 
layer,  but  you  cannot  make  a  buyer  think  so  as  you  could  if  the  hen  were 
well  marked,  and  had  the  true  shape  and  appearance  of  one  of  the 
breeds  that  people  know  about.  For  instance,  suppose  you  have  Brown 
Leghorn  hens  and  a  White  Wyandotte  rooster,  and  you  hatch  the  eggs 
from  your  best  layers.  The  pullets  may  "act  like  mother"  and  lay  well,  but 
they  will  "look  like  father"  and  be  spotted  with  all  colors.  No  one  would 
pay  as  much  for  such  birds  as  they  would  if  a  Brown  Leghorn  rooster  had 
been  used.  It  is  always  an  advantage  to  have  birds  that  are  salable  as 
well  as  good  layers.  The  boy  began  to  see  that  if  he  was  ever  to  have 
a  flock  of  hens  to  be  proud  of  he  must  make  them  as  near  alike  as  possi- 
ble, and  hatch  the  eggs  from  the  best.  He  finally  made  up  his  mind  that 
he  liked  the  Brown  Leghorns  best.    When  asked  his  reason  he  said : 


82  The    Business    Hen. 

"They  lay  well.  They  do  not  eat  as  much  as  the  others.  They  are 
tame  and  not  so  "scarey"  as  the  Whites.  They  do  not  try  so  hard  to  get 
out  of  the  yard,  and  they  are  pretty!" 

As  he  grows  older  he  will  see  a  few  more  virtues  and  many  more  defects 
than  he  now  sees  in  the  Browns.  For  instance,  the  very  fact  that  these 
little  Brownies  are  so  pretty  with  their  varied  plumage  makes  it  all  the 
more  difficult  to  breed  them  true.  This  was  his  first  idea  of  a  "type"  of 
hen  that  suited  him,  and  I  encouraged  him  in  it,  because  it  is  the  founda- 
tion of  success  to  try  to  develop  and  maintain  the  things  that  we  love  and 
admire. 

As  the  boy  studied  his  hens  he  found  that  two  of  the  Brown  Leghorns 
laid  well,  while  the  other  was  something  of  a  shirk.  One  of  the  hens 
laid  a  much  larger  egg  than  the  other,  and  as  the  small  size  of  the  egg 
is  one  of  the  weaknesses  of  the  Browns  the  boy  decided  to  keep  all  of  the 
large  eggs  he  could  for  hatching,  keeping  close  to  the  principle  that  he 
wants  his  coming  pullets  to  "act  like  mother."  He  wants  to  save  his 
money  and  buy  a  good  Leghorn  rooster. 

Thus  the  boy  begins  to  pick  up  the  first  principles  of  successful  poultry 
keeping.  He  is  working  out  on  a  small  scale  some  of  the  problems  of 
selection  and  feeding,  the  mastery  of  which  have  given  men  fame  and 
fortune.  These  successful  men  grew  into  their  success  just  as  the  boy 
is  growing.  At  one  time  they  knew  less  than  he  does.  The  reason  they 
succeeded  is  that  they  kept  on  growing  and  learned  to  reason  things  out 
for  themselves.  One  man  may  start  with  an  old  shed  and  a  flock  of 
mongrels;  form  his  idea  of  type  and  select  for  it;  study  the  wants  of  a 
hen  and  her  comfort  and  grow  into  a  comfortable  business.  People  will 
pay  for  his  care  and  thought  when  wrapped  in  feathers  just  as  they  pay 
for  an  author's  thoughts  when  printed  and  bound  into  a  book.  Another 
man  may  start  with  the  finest  fiock  of  purebred  hens,  go  by  printed  rules 
alone,  make  no  personal  study  of  the  hen,  and  fail.  One  man  has  hen  in 
the  heart — the  other  hen  in  the  first  layer  of  the  head. 


CHAPTER     XIV. 
Marketing  Poultry  Products. 

The  professional  poultryman,  who  keeps  in  close  touch  with  his  market, 
knows  its  peculiar  requirements  and  the  problems  that  each  season  brings. 
The  man  with  only  a  few  hens  as  a  side  issue,  raising  say  50  or  100 
chickens,  is  seldom  so  well  informed  on  market  matters,  and  may  make 
mistakes  that  cut  his  profits  in  two.  He  may  have  sold  through  a  careful 
dealer,  who  has  told  him  how  to  dress  and  pack,  or  through  a  commission 
man  of  a  type  that  takes  whatever  comes,  and  sells  for  what  it  will  bring, 
without  giving  the  shipper  any  tangible  suggestions  that  might  help  majce 
his  offerings  more  salable. 

The  first  requisite  in  shipping  poultry  to  a  large  market  is  to  have 
something  worth  selling,  and  the  next  is  to  know  a  commission  man  who 
is  worthy  of  selling  it.  Such  a  man  is  found  only  through  experience, 
either  one's  own  or  a  neighbor's,  and  when  found  he  is  worth  sticking  to. 
He  will  appreciate  this,  and  in  10  years  more  money  will  have  been  made 
tnan  by  scattering  the  ship- 
ments about.  {:',t:; -";:-:':  "v"   ". "    ~'_    " 

In  sections  having  a  Hebrew  ^-- 

population    the^e    is    a    steady  ^^.  -,,  — -v-^^  ^  z--sr::--y:^ — r-.- ^  -;■  v 

demand  for  live  poultry,  which  "^^  '         " 

must      be      slaughtered     under  Fig.  38.     CRATE  OF  LIVE  POULTRY. 

supervision     of     their     official 

butchers.  The  trade  is  heaviest  at  seasons  commonly  known  as  Jewish 
holidays,  movable  feasts.  The  exact  dates  for  any  year  may  be  learned 
from  dealers  in  live  poultry.  The  principal  feasts  are  the  Hebrew  Npw 
Years,  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  Feast  of  Laws,  and  Passover.  In  New  York 
the  receiving  stations  are  centralized,  and  from  these  distribution  is  made 
to  butchers.  Fig.  38  shows  a  crate  of  live  poultry,  and  Fig.  39  a  lot 
of  crates  as  piled  on  a  wagon  in  West  Washington  market  ready  to  be 
carted  to  the  East  Side  Jewish  sections  where  Kosher  meat  is  sold. 
Fig.  40  shows  a  typical  retail  shop.  The  cuts  of  rooster  and  animal's 
head  in  the  window  indicate  that  officially  prepared  meats  are  on  sale  there. 
In  the  basement  door  the  artist  has  inserted  a  scene  familiar  betore  the 
recent  regulations  forbidding  the  exposure  of  meats  on  the  street.  The 
market  woman  is  dissecting  a  fowl  for  a  fricassee  while  the  customer 
waits.     This  work  is  now  done  under  cover. 

Broilers  are  received  in  market  live  and  dressed,  the  latter  dry-packed 


84 


The    Business    Hen. 


Fig.  39.     LOADING  UP. 


or  iced.  At  Fig.  41  is  a  fav- 
orite crate  for  shipping  live  small 
chickens.  Those  shown  weigh 
from  3H  to  4  pounds  per 
pair.  Though  many  lighter  are 
sold,  the  best  prices  are  paid  for 
those  about  the  weight  men- 
tioned. The  crates  are  made  of 
hard  wood  and  are  very  durable. 
Some  are  2J.'2x33^  feet,  and  eight 
inches  deep.  Fig.  42  is  a  box 
of  dressed  broilers  as  put  up  by 
the  meat-packing  houses  for 
shipment  in  refrigerator  cars. 
The  boxes  contain  two  or  three 
dozen  according  to  size.  Other  poultry  is  also  put  in  similar  boxes.  Tho 
farmer  who  ships  in  small  quantities  and  does  not  have  the  advantage  of 
refrigerator  cars  must  ice  his  dressed  chickens  unless  very  near  market 
or  in  cool  weather.  At  bottom  of  page  85  is  a  barrel  of  iced  poultry 
minus  the  burlap  covering.  In  warm  weather  the  icing  must  be  thor- 
oughly done  and  the  ice  in  close  contact  with  the  birds.  This  makes  them 
wet  and  messy,  but  they  can  be  wiped  off  and  dried  so  as  to  look  very 
well.  There  are  various  expedients  for  doing  away  with  this  bad  appear- 
ance, such  as  wrapping  each  bird  in  heavy  paper,  but  this  is  only  partly 
effective,  and  about  the  best  way  is  to  pack  alternate  layers  of  cracked  ice 
and  poultry,  and  a  good  sized  chunk  of  ice  on  top. 

As  a  rule  the  farmer  is  most  interested  m  the  Fall  and  Winter  poultry 
market.  He  has  something  to  sell  for  Thanksgiving,  and  clears  out  the 
rest   of  his   surplus    for   Christmas    and   New    Years.     For   Thanksgiving 

trade    the    weather    is    generally 


cool  enough  so  that  dry  packing 
is  safe.  Boxes  get  rougher  usage 
than  barrels,  being  harder  to 
handle,  but  a  barrel  is  not  so  con- 
venient to  pack  in.  Unless  send- 
ing a  very  small  quantity  it  is 
best  to  sort  the  poultry,  putting 
hen  and  tom  turkeys  in  separate 
packages,  and  the  culls  by  them- 
selves:  or  better,  keep  the  culls 
to  get  in  condition  for  a  later 
market.  If  boxes  are  used,  they 
should    not   be    too    large.     Less 


Fig.  40.     A  "KOSHER"  MEAT  SHOP. 


Marketing     Poultry    Products. 


85 


Fig.  41.     A  COOP  OP  BROILERS. 


Fig.  42. 
DRESSED   BROILERS. 


than  a  barrel  in  bulk  is  prefer- 
able. In  very  heavy  packages 
there  is  some  bruising  from 
rough  handling  by  freight  or  ex- 
press men,  who  seem  to  think 
that  a  heavy  box  is  an  invita- 
tion to  them  to  do  their  worst. 
Various  rules  for  packing  have 
been  given,  such  as  putting  them  all  one  way,  all  breasts  up,  etc.,  but 
it  is  not'  always  convenient  to  do  this  with  long-geared  turkeys,  and 
about  all  that  can  be  done  is  to  fit  them  into  boxes  or  barrels  in  what- 
ever way  they  will  fill  up  the  space  so  as  not  to  shake  about.  Some  pack 
in  layers  with  straw  or  heavy  paper  between,  which  may  be  some  ad- 
vantage, although  straw,  unless  entirely 
free  from  chaff,  sticks  to  the  birds 
and  is  a  nuisance.  The  safest  way  in 
packing  is  to  follow  the  directions  of  the 
man  who  will  handle  the  poultry,  as  mar- 
ket requirements  differ,  and  he  may  have 
good   reason   for   special   preferences. 

In  dealing  with  a  large  market  it  is  necessary  that  the  poultry  arrive 
early.  In  smaller  towns,  where  the  shipper  sells  direct  to  the  retailer, 
less  margin  is  needed,  but  in  New  York  most  of  it  must  go  through  the 
wholesaler's  hands.  Poultry  for  Thanksgiving  should  be  on  hand  not  later 
than  Monday  of  that  week,  and  the  latter  part  of  the  previous  week  is 
better,  as  many  retailers  stock  up  then. 
If  there  is  a  scarcity,  so  that  retailers 
cannot  get  supplies  early,  late  arrivals 
may  find  a  good  demand,  but  the  proba- 
bilities are  that  they  will  have  to  drag 
through  the  trade  dullness  always  follow- 
ing a   holiday. 

New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and 
Chicago  demand  undrawn  poultry  with 
head  and  feet  on.  The  crop  should  be  re- 
moved unless  empty,  but  all  poultry  should 
lie  without  food  for  several  hours  before 
killing.  For  Boston  trade  the  general  rule 
is  to  remove  head,  crop  and  entrails,  mak- 
ing as  small  an  incision  as  possible,  and 
leaving  in  heart,  gizzard  and  liver.  Part 
of  the  neck  should  be  cut  off,  the  skin 
drawn,   over,    tied    and    trimmed    neatly. 


Fig.  43.     ICED  POULTRY. 


The    Business    Hen. 

The  Massachus- 
etts law  forbids 
the  sale  of  un- 
drawn poultry 
except  where 
there  is  no  food 
in  the  crop  or 
entrails,  an  ex- 
cellent law  from 
a  sanitary  stand- 
point. Pittsburg 
demands  drawn 
poultry  with 
heads  and  feet 
off. 

The  bestt 
method  of  kill- 
ing is  sticking 
in  the  mouth 
with  a  sharp 
knife,  while  the 
bird  hangs  up  by 
the  feet.  Here  is 
the  way  it  is 
done  by  one 
practical  man. 
The  picture 
shows  the  bird 
in  the  proper 
position.  The 

wings      may     be 
locked      together 
at    the    back    by 
Pig.  44.     METHOD  OF  KILEING  POULTRY.  bringing         one 

over  the  other  and  hooking  the  tip  of  the  top  wing  under  the  other.  The 
head  is  held  in  the  left  hand,  the  knife  in  the  right.  The  knife  should 
have  a  good  sized  handle  with  the  blade  keen  and  sharp  pointed.  Put  the 
blade  down  the  throat  just  behind  the  head  and  draw  it  across  with  the 
point  touching  the  bone.  This  cuts  the  jugular  vein.  Let  the  bird  bleed  a 
few  seconds.  Then  put  the  point  of  knife  and  cutting  edge  against  the  roof 
of  the  mouth  and  force  it  into  the  brain  cavity.  Give  a  slight  turn, 
severing  the  spinal  cord.  This  releases  control  of  the  feathers,  and  some 
may  be  almost  brushed  off  if  done  at  once.     This  method  is  varied  a  little 


Marketing     Poultry     Products.  87 

by  some,  but  there  are  always  two  essentials;  first  to  cut  the  jugular  vein 
and  next  pierce  the  brain,  paralyzing  the  nervous  system.  The  work  is 
done  very  quickly  when  one  understands  it.  Of  course  it  is  necessary  to 
study  out  these  details  very  carefully  before  attempting  to  kill  a  bird. 
Dry  picking  is  preferable  for  most  markets,  but  the  feathers  do  not  always 
loosen  in  the  way  described,  and  then  it  is  necessary  to  scald.  Scalded 
poultry  will  sell  about  as  well  if  the  skin  is  not  torn  and  the  birds  are 
"plumped."  This  consists  in  dipping  them  in  hot  water  for  a  few  seconds 
after  picking  and  then  at  once  into  cold  water,  where  they  remain  about 
20  minutes.  Roughly  picked  or  bruised  poultry  is  always  discounted,  so  it 
pays  to  handle  the  birds  carefully  before  killing,  and  to  take  off  the  feathers 
neatly.  All  animal  heat  must  be  removed  before  packing.  This  takes 
longer  than  is  generally  supposed,  and  neglect  of  it  causes  loss  every  year, 
when  poultry  known  to  be  properly  bled  and  only  a  short  time  on  the  road 
arrives  at  market  in  spoiled  condition. 

Methods  of  working  up  a  retail  egg  trade  are  described  elsewhere  in 
this  book.  For  the  general  wholesale  market  the  30-dozen  case  is  the 
standard  package.  Where  one  is  near  market  these  cases  may  be  made 
heavy  enough  to  use  many  times,  but  for  long-distance  shipments,  where 
:he  expense  of  returning  is  too  great,  the  crates  are  made  of  cheap 
.naterial  and  go  with  the  eggs.  The  eggs  are  separated  by  pasteboard 
partitions,  which  may  be  bought  in  quantity  of  any  dealer  in  poultry 
supplies.  Very  large  quantities  of  eggs  come  to  New  York  from  the 
Middle  West  and  Southwest.  As  might  be  expected,  those  from  the 
southerly  sections  usually  sell  lowest,  heat  damage  during  the  collection 
of  carloads  being  greater  in  the  warmer  latitudes.  Eggs  are  graded  as 
fancy,  choice,  good,  fair,  inferior,  checks  and  dirties.  Fancy  eggs  should 
be  strictly  fresh,  and  not  more  than  a  week  old  when  sold,  but  what  they 
should  be  and  what  they  are  do  not  always  tally.  The  quality  of  the 
other  grades  is  suggested  by  their  names.  Checks  are  slightly  cracked 
eggs  that  are  sorted  out,  crated  by  themselves,  and  sold  for  immediate  use. 

Cold  storage  is  the  balance  wheel  of  the  egg  and  poultry  trade,  keeping 
it  going  at  a  comparatively  even  gait  the  year  around,  preventing  the 
scarcity  which  causes  prohibitive  prices  to  all  but  the  wealthy,  and  the 
glutted  market,  with  figures  below  cost  of  production.  The  range  of 
prices  for  a  year  will  still  show  very  high  figures,  such  as  60  cents  a  dozen 
for  new-laid  eggs  and  35  cents  for  fresh-killed  poultry,  yet  there  is  no  time 
when  both  eggs  and  poultry  from  storage,  not  fresh,  but  palatable  and 
wholesome,  may  not  be  had  at  prices  within  reach  of  almost  anyone.  The 
scope  of  refrigeration  has  been  much  enlarged  by  dry  air  processes,  which 
have  made  it  possible  to  handle  products  that  get  musty  under  the  damp- 
ness of  ordinary  ice  storage.  There  are  still  many  losses  from  improper 
handling,  but  good  eggs  properly  stored  may  be  kept  for  a  full  year. 


CHAPTER     XV. 
Marketing   Eggs. 

The  easiest  money  to  be  made  in  the  poultry  business  is  in  marketing 
the  products.  A  successful  poultryman  must  be  a  good  salesman.  The 
extra  money  that  may  be  secured  by  selling  eggs  to  a  special  trade  at  an 
advanced  price  is  almost  clear  gain.  It  should  be  25  to  30  per  cent  addi- 
tional above  the  profit  in  selling  at  the  highest  wholesale  price.  The 
margin  will  vary  from  one  cent  per  dozen  in  small  towns  to  five  to  10 
cents  per  dozen  in  large  cities.  It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  secure  this 
high-class  trade.  Like  everything  else  worth  while,  it  requires  years  of 
effort  and  painstaking  care.  A  poultryman  must  grow  into  his  trade. 
High  price  is  simply  the  premium  paid  for  confidence  in  the  goods.  It  is 
a  just  reward  for  a  good  reputation.  Any  neat  and  careful  poultryman, 
however,  should  find  no  difficulty  in  raising  his  price  two  cents  per  dozen 
above  the  highest  market  in  his  neighborhood.  As  his  customers  become 
educated  up  to  good  eggs  the  price  can  be  increased.  The  first  essential 
in  working  up  a  special  market  is  the  ability  to  produce  and  deliver  the 
goods.  To  do  this  three  things  are  absolutely  necessary;  good  eggs,  an 
attractive  package  and  regular  delivery  every  week  in  the  year.  One  is 
just  as  important  as  the  other. 

GOOD  EGGS. — There  is  a  great  difference  in  eggs.  They  must,  first 
of  all,  be  new  laid,  that  is  to  say,  not  over  one  week  old.  If  they  are  gath- 
ered regularly  each  day  and  placed  in  a  cool,  dry  room,  they  should  suit 
the  requirements  of  the  most  delicate  taste.  Daily  or  twice  a  week  ship- 
ments are  unnecessary  with  a  private  family  trade,  and  would  greatly 
increase  the  labor  of  handling  and  keeping  of  accounts  as  well  as  multi- 
plying express  charges.  On  the  whole  "eggs  is  eggs"  when  they  go  to 
or  leave  the  average  country  store.  A  good  farmer's  good  egg  sells  for 
no  more  than  the  poor  farmer's  poor  egg  when  they  once  get  into  the  class 
of  ordinary  "store-gathered"  eggs,  because  they  are  in  bad  company.  It  is 
a  positive  injustice  to  the  hens  that  laid  the  eggs,  to  the  man  who  grew  the 
grain  to  produce  them,  and  to  the  one  who  gathers  them  thus  to  sell 
good  eggs  for  the  lowest  possible  price.  The  element  of  uncertainty  as  to 
just  what  is  covered  by  the  egg  shell  exaggerates  the  real  difference  and 
magnifies  the  premium  paid  for  guaranteed  quality.  In  other  words, 
people  are  willing  to  pay  an  extra  price  rather  than  take  any  chances. 
Eggs  are  bought  and  sold  largely  "under  sight  and  under  seen"  in  the 
general  market.  While  the  general  quality  of  market  eggs  has  consid- 
erably increased  in  some  respects  of  late  years,  due  to  the  systematic 
handling  of  eggs  by  large  dealers,  the  feature  of  age,  which  has  much  to 
do  with  quality,  remains  the  same. 


Marketing     Eggs.  89 

The  eggs  should  be  of  large  size.  The  customer  who  pays  a  good 
price  is  entitled  to  eggs  that  weigh  not  less  than  two  ounces  each.  Eggs 
under  two  ounces  should  be  sold  to  a  special  customer  at  a  somewhat 
reduced  rate.  Sm:ill  or  medium  eggs  always  suffer  by  contrast  with  large 
ones,  but  when  placed  in  a  crate  by  themselves  they  always  show  off  to 
better  advantage,  and  as  they  have  the  same  quality  of  freshness  and  nieat- 
ness  as  the  other  eggs  they  should  command  a  premium  above  the  general 
market.  Good  eggs  should  also  be  uniform  in  color,  and  the  color  should 
si'.it  the  fancy  of  the  customer.  The  New  York  City  market  requires  a 
pure  white  egg.  Boston  has  a  decided  preference  for  a  dark  brown  egg. 
Other  things  being  equal,  a  difference  of  at  least  two  cents  per  dozen  will 
be  paid  just  on  account  of  color  in  these  and  other  markets.  It  is  a 
common  practice  now  to  assort  and  ship  eggs  according  to  the  color 
lequirements  of  the  respective  markets.  Uniformity  of  grade  counts  for 
as  much  in  selling  eggs  as  it  does  in  marketing  fruit.  One  would  not 
expect  to  ship  red,  green  and  russet  apples  of  large,  medium  and  small  size 
in  the  same  barrel.  Yet  it  is  a  rule,  not  an  exception,  to  find  all  kinds  oT 
eggs,  big  ones  and  litttle  ones,  long  ones  and  round  ones,  eggs  with  brown, 
white,  speckled  or  cream-colored  shells  in  the  same  crate  when  they  leave 
the  farm.  The  very  fact  that  they  are  mixed  in  colors  and  sizes  brands 
them  as  "common  eggs"  in  the  eyes  of  the  purchaser.  They  give  the 
impression  of  not  having  come  from  any  particular  place  or  any  special 
breed,  but  from  anywhere  and  everywhere;  just  "picked  up"  eggs.  This  is 
a  serious  handicap.  In  order  to  produce  the  highest  priced  eggs  one  must 
keep  purebred  fowls,  not  because  their  eggs  are  any  better  to  eat,  but 
because  they  are  better  to  look  at. 

Cleanliness  is  a  necessity  in  selling  fancy  eggs.  A  dirty  egg  is  a 
disgrace.  It  may  be  fresh,  but  no  one  will  believe  it.  There  are  many 
degrees  of  cleanliness;  spotless  clean,  clean,  tolerably  clean  and  dirty. 
Eggs  as  they  come  from  the  nest  are  usually  tolerably  clean.  They  are 
never  spotless  clean  until  each  egg  has  been  carefully  inspected  and  the 
faintest  trace  of  stain  or  dirt  removed.  Much  can  be  done  to  keep  eggs 
from  becoming  soiled  which  will  save  a  large  amount  of  labor.  Dirty  hen- 
houses and  yards  cause  dirty  feet,  which  make  dirty  eggs.  Clean  nests 
will  help  to  keep  the  eggs  clean.  Bright  oat  straw  is  one  of  the  most 
desirable  nest  materials.  Sawdust  or  clover  hay  and  some  other  materials 
are  apt  to  stain  the  shells.  When  cleaning  eggs,  both  dry  and  damp  cloths 
should  be  at  hand.  Sapolio  is  good  to  scour  off  a  stain.  A  little  sal  soda 
in  water  will  remove  dirt  more  quickly.  Vinegar  and  water  will  do  the 
same  thing.  One  should  use  as  little  water  as  possible.  Washed  eggs 
lose  their  natural  finish  and  will  not  keep  as  well.  Very  dirty  eggs,  how- 
ever, should  be  put  to  soak.  All  eggs  should  be  perfectly  dry  when  placed 
in  the  crates,  and  covered  so  that  dust  cannot  settle  on  them.     This  clean- 


90 


The    Business    Hen. 


ing  operation  is  not  expensive  when  done  systematically.  We  pay  under 
contract  one  cent  per  dozen  for  grading,  cleaning  and  packing  all  of  our 
eggs,  both  for  market  and  for  hatching.  The  person  who  does  the  work 
makes  good  wages. 

The  quality  of  fancy  eggs  must  be  good  as  to  flavor,  firmness  of  white 
and  color  of  yolk.  Care  therefore  must  be  taken  in  the  feeding  of  fowls 
to  have  plenty  of  green  food  and  a  certain  amount  of  corn,  both  of  which 
give  to  the  dull  yolks  a  deep  yellow  color.  Very  pale  yolks,  which  are 
certain  to  follow  prolonged  feeding  without  the  foods  mentioned,  are  apt 
to  be  looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  particular  customers.     It  is  true  that 

excessive  feeding 
of  laying  hens  up- 
on foods  which 
have  a  very  pun- 
gent odor,  such  as 
onions  or  cabbage, 
will  affect  the  fla- 
vor of  the  egg. 
Both  turnips  and 
cabbage,  however, 
can  be  fed  with 
perfect  safety  in 
limited  quantities, 
especially  if  fowls 
are  well  supplied 
with  other  foods. 
THE  PACK- 
A  G  E. — A  good 
article  is  worthy 
of  a  neat  package. 
Fig.  45.     MAKING  EGG  CRATES.  Appearances  count 

for  much  in  catching  the  eye  or  pleasing  the  palate.  If  eggs  go  to 
market  in  a  neatly  made,  well  varnished,  carefully  stenciled  crate  the 
customer  has  reason  to  expect  that  the  same  care  used  in  packing  the 
eggs  has  been  exercised  in  producing  and  gathering  them,  and  in  this 
he  usually  is  not  mistaken.  Good  serviceable  egg  crates  can  be  made  with 
very  slight  expense.  Most  farmers  should  be  able  to  make  them.  It  is 
the  most  profitable  kind  of  rainy  day  work.  Fig.  45  shows  a  group  of 
Cornell  University  poultry  students  making  egg  crates,  which  are  used  to 
deliver  eggs  from  the  College  poultry  plant.  These  crates  have  a  capacity 
of  multiples  of  three  dozen;  to  hold  either  three  dozen,  six  dozen,  nine 
dozen,  12  dozen,  15  dozen  or  30  dozen.  Regular  commercial  egg  crates  are 
purchased  for  five  to  ten  cents  each  with  fillers.     The  best  ends  are  used 


Marketing     Eggs.  91 

to  form  the  ends  of  the  new  crates  of  various  sizes.  Three-eighths-inch 
Georgia  pine  ceihng  is  used  for  sides  and  top,  which  is  nailed  with  two- 
inch  finishing  nails.  The  bottoms  are  made  from  the  best  of  the  material 
taken  from  the  sides  of  the  old  egg  crates.  Narrow  cleats  are  placed  on 
the  sides  for  handles,  and  upon  the  top  of  the  cover  to  make  it  solid.  Two 
three-inch  strap  hinges  and  a  hasp  are  placed  on  the  cover.  The  whole 
box  is  then  sandpapered  if  necessary,  covered  with  hard  oil  finish,  which 
makes  a  much  neater  looking  package,  easier  to  keep  clean  than  one  which 
is  painted.  The  name  of  the  farm  or  of  the  proprietor,  with  the  home 
address  and  the  products  shipped,  should  then  be  stencilled  on  the  top  of 
the  package,  also  upon  the  sides  where  room  will  permit.  The  Cornell 
stencil  is  in  two  parts.  With  the  first  part  a  large  white  egg,  10  inches 
long,  is  painted  upon  the  box.  When  this  is  dry  another  stencil  is  used 
to  print  the  words,  "Cornell  University,  College  of  Agriculture,  Poultry 
Products,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  Quality  Guaranteed."  A  neat  stencil  on  any 
package  is  a  splendid  advertisement,  and  makes  the  chances  of  loss  of 
crates  in  transit  very  much  less.  As  a  finishing  touch  we  purchase  little 
brass  padlocks,  with  duplicate  keys.  They  cost  12^  cents  each  and  they  are 
money  makers,  not  so  much  because  they  prevent  stealing  eggs,  but  because 
the  wealthy  customer  is  willing  to  pay  a  cent  or  more  a  dozen  just  for  the 
sake  of  having  his  neighbor  see  that  he  gets  eggs  direct  from  the  farm  V 
express  each  week  with  a  padlock  on  the  box.  Our  experience  in  working 
up  a  large  private  family  trade  in  and  about  New  York  City  is  that  the 
best  advertiser  is  a  pleased  customer.  To  illustrate,  we  have  one  family 
that  has  purchased  eggs  from  us  for  many  years.  They  referred  a  friend 
to  us,  who  became  a  regular  customer,  who  in  turn  wanted  us  to  send 
eggs  to  another  friend.  Another  string  of  customers  started  by  a  wealthy 
man  visiting  the  farm  and  finding  us  packing  eggs  for  the  private  family 
trade.  He  asked  why  he  could  not  have  eggs  sent  to  him  also.  He  is  one 
of  our  best  customers  at  the  present  time,  and  through  his  friendship  four 
others  have  been  secured.  Farmers  who  take  Summer  boarders,  or  those 
who  sell  produce  to  Summer  hotels,  have  excellent  opportunities  for  finding 
city  customers  for  eggs.  The  private  family  trade,  however,  is  not  without 
its  disadvantages.  One  of  these  is  that  there  are  a  multitude  of  details 
in  looking  after  a  large  number  of  comparatively  small  shipments  ranging 
from  six  to  15  dozen.  This  makes  a  good  deal  of  bookkeeping.  Families 
are  apt  to  leave  the  city  at  certain  times  during  the  year  which  necessarily 
interrupts  the  general  output  of  eggs.  However,  some  of  our  customers 
continue  to  have  eggs  shipped  to  their  Summer  resort,  where  they  are 
willing  to  pay  double  express  charges.  The  most  serious  difficulties 
have  been  the  breakage  by  express  companies.  Occasionally  they  make 
good   the   loss,   after   much   correspondence    and    delay. 


92  The    Business    Hen. 

REGULARITY  OF  SHIPMENT.— The  people  who  pay  high  prices 
want  their  eggs  on  time,  rain  or  shine.  They  usually  want  the  same 
number  per  week  the  year  round.  One's  capacity,  therefore,  to  cater  to 
this  trade  is  somewhat  measured  by  the  number  of  eggs  which  he  can 
produce  during  the  months  of  greatest  scarcity,  namely  October,  November 
and  December.  We  find,  however,  that  our  customers  are  very  obliging, 
and  stay  with  us  over  these  periods  with  a  somewhat  diminished  supply. 
In  order  to  discourage  excessive  egg  eating  during  the  period  of  scarcity, 
we  make  our  prices  according  to  the  law  of  supply  and  demand.  While 
our  prices  are  not  as  high  perhaps  as  some  are  getting,  we  are  quite  well 
pleased  with  the  results,  but  we  are  always  looking  for  higher  prices.  Our 
scale  of  prices  is  2.5  cents  per  dozen  for  April,  May,  June  and  July; 
35  cents  for  August  and  September;  40  cents  for  October  and  November; 
45  for  December  and  January;  35  February  and  March.  The  customer  in 
every  case  pays  the  express  charges  and  returns  the  empty  box.  We  found 
that  there  was  less  trouble  from  breakage  where  the  customer  who  was  on 
the  spot  was  personally  responsible  for  settling  with  the  express  company 
for  damage.  These  prices,  therefore,  net  us  about  seven  to  eight  cents 
per  dozen  by  the  year  more  than  the  highest  wholesale  market  quotation 
for  fancy  nearby  white  eggs.  During  the  Spring  months,  when  most  eggs 
are  laid,  a  large  trade  in  eggs  for  hatching  takes  care  of  most  of  the  surplus. 
At  the  end  of  a  hatching  season  the  Summer  hotel  trade  will  handle  any 
surplus  which  we  may  have  at  about  23  cents  per  dozen.  Whatever  the 
system  of  marketing,  the  problem  of  regularity  of  supply  throughout  the 
3'ear  is  the  hardest  one  to  meet,  and  in  a  measure  it  remains  unsolved. 
With  the  best  of  care  one  cannot  expect  to  get  more  than  10  to  15  eggs 
per  day  per  100  hens  in  large  numbers  during  the  months  of  October, 
November  and  December  and  not  over  20  or  30  per  cent  from  early-hatched 
pullets.  It  is  true  that  individual  flocks  should  do  much  better  than  this 
for  a  time,  but  if  there  are  iTlany  flocks,  some  of  the  others  will  not  be 
laying  as  well.  Even  with  the  high  price  to  be  secured  for  eggs  durini; 
the  late  Fall  and  early  Winter  months,  the  net  profits  will  be  less  than 
at  any  other  season  of  the  year,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  we  should 
only  produce  eggs  during  the  regular  laying  season.  It  will  most  likely 
be  found  that  the  flocks  that  have  laid  the  most  eggs  during  the  Winter 
will  also  produce  best  during  the  rest  of  the  year.  If  hens  do  not  lay 
during  the  Winter  they  are  a  dead  loss,  which  must  be  made  up  out  of  the 
Summer  profits.  Unfortunately  when  a  hen  stops  laying  she  doesn't  stop 
eating.  A  more  potent  argument  still  is  that  one  cannot  secure  a  satis- 
factory market  for  Spring  and  Summer  eggs  only.  Many  customers  pay 
high  prices  in  Summer  simply  to  hang  on  to  their  supply  for  the  Winter. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
Companions  of  the  Hen. 

THE  GUINEA  FOWL.— There  are  two  varieties  of  Guineas,  Pearl  and 
White.  There  is  no  difference  in  their  characteristics  save  in  their  color. 
The  Pearl  variety  should  be  bluish-gray  in  color,  each  feather  covered  with 
white  spots  resembling  pearls,  hence  its  name.  It  should  be  free  from  any 
white  feathers  in  any  part  of  the  plumage.  The  neck  is  covered  with  black 
hairs  near  the  head,  and  between  that  and  the  feathers  is  a  soft  down,  ol 
a  light  brown  color,  that  glistens  in  the  sun.  On  the  top  of  the  head  is 
a  horny  spike  that  turns  backward.  The  bill  and  legs  are  brown.  The 
white  variety  should  be  a  pure  white  in  plumage,  with  a  yellow  orange 
or  yellowish-white  bill  and  legs,  this  being  the  only  difference  between 
them  and  the  Pearl  variety.  Some  birds  of  the  Pearl  variety  have  white 
feathers  in  the  breast  and  wings,  but  are  mongrels,  being  a  cross  between 
the  two  varieties.  They  are  great  foragers,  and  will  pick  up  enough  bugs 
and  injurious  insects  more  than  to  pay  for  themselves.  They  do  not  stand 
confinement  well,  and  will  not  lay  more  than  one-half  as  many  eggs  as  il 
allowed  to  run  at  large.  If  fed  regularly  morning  and  night  they  will 
always  be  on  hand  for  their  share.  They  desire  to  roost  in  trees  near  the 
barn  at  night,  and  are  most  excellent  guards  either  night  or  day ;  anything 
out  of  the  usual  astir,  they  will  set  up  a  great  cry.  They  roost  so  high 
that  they  are  out  of  the  way  of  thieves  or  wild  animals.  In  their  wild 
state  they  will  fight  and  drive  other  fowls,  but  if  used  kindly  as  othei 
poultry,  they  will  stay  and  feed  with  other  fowls  without  showing  much  of 
this  pugnacious  habit.  The  Guinea>hen  is  a  Spring  and  Summer  layer,  and 
lays  from  90  to  120  eggs  yearly.  They  like  a  secluded  place  to  lay  in. 
When  their  nests  are  found,  leave  two  or  three  eggs,  or  they  will  leave 
the  nest  for  another  place.  Better  set  their  eggs  under  hens  to  hatch,  as 
the  Guinea  does  not  sit  until  too  late  in  this  latitude  to  have  the  young  get 
grown  before  Winter.  Besides,  if  raised  by  common  hens,  they  can  be 
taken  care  of  better,  for  they  must  be  fed  often,  as  the  young  eat  but  little 
at  a  time.  Fifteen  to  17  eggs  can  be  set  under  a  good-sized  hen,  and  with 
good  care  all  can  be  raised.  Their  eggs  are  small,  but  make  up  in  quality 
what  is  lost  in  size.  Their  meat  is  excellent,  and  has  a  gamy  flavor.  The 
cocks  can  be  distinguished  by  their  screeching  noise,  also  by  the  spike  on 
their  heads  being  larger,  and  by  holding  their  heads  higher.  Their  ear 
tubes  are  larger,  and  generally  curl  in  a  sort  of  semi-circle  toward  the 
beak.  The  hens  make  a  noise  that  sounds  like  "too  quick,"  and  seldom 
screech. 


94  The    Business    Hen. 

PIGEONS  AND  SQUABS.— J.  E.  Stevenson  says:  Almost  any  dry 
and  fairly  warm  room  may  be  fixed  to  answer  nicely  for  pigeons.  Es- 
sentials are  convenience  of  attendant,  a  good  roof,  no  holes  or  cracks  in 
sides,  and  above  all  strictly  rat-proof,  as  if  rats  get  a  taste  of  your  squabs, 
they  will  do  more  damage  than  any  one  thing  I  can  think  of.  Allow  about 
250  square  feet  of  floor  space  for  each  50  pairs  of  breeders. 

Nest  boxes  should  be  arranged  convenient  for  the  attendant.  Suitable 
boxes  may  usually  be  obtained  cheaply  at  your  grocer's ;  select  boxes 
from  eight  to  12  inches  square.  Nail  a  board  three  or  four  inches  wide 
across  the  front  to  keep  eggs  or  small  squabs  from  falling  out.  Bore  a 
hole  in  back  near  top  and  hang  on  nails  driven  in  the  walls.  These  may 
be  quickly  taken  down,  cleaned  and  hung  up  again.  There  should  be  two 
nest  boxes  for  each  pair  of  breeders,  as  often  a  good  pair  of  breeders 
will  have  a  new  nest  and  eggs  in  one  box  before  their  squabs  are  ready 
to  leave  the  other.  It  is  best  to  hang  the  boxes  in  pairs  close  together,  and 
each  pair  of  boxes  far  enough  from  the  next,  so  that  the  occupants  can't 
stand  in  their  doorway,  or  on  their  house  top  and  fight  with  their  neighbor. 

Put  in  windows  enough  for  light  and  ventilation  in  warm  weather,  but 
don't  worry  about  ventilation  in  cold  weather;  the  problem  then  is  how 
to  shut  it  out,  as  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  a  building  closed  too 
closely  in  cold  weather,  unless  overcrowded  with  stock. 

The  fly  should  contain  about  twice  the  amount  of  ground  space  as 
the  building,  and  may  be  made  from  two-inch  poultry  mesh  netting,  but 
when  sparrows  are  numerous  it  will  pay  to  use  one-inch  mesh  netting,  so 
as  to  exclude  them  from  the  fly.  I  use  netting  four  feet  wide  and  wire 
together  with  pig  rings.  If  the  soil  is  not  sandy  or  gravelly,  the  ground 
in  fly  should  be  covered  with  three  or  four  inches  of  sand  and  this  renewed 
occasionally,  so  that  it  will  always  be  in  good  shape  to  feed  the  birds  on. 

Homers  are  unquestionably  the  best  all-round  breeders,  and  if  they  have 
good  food  and  care  will  produce  first-class  squabs,  and  lots  of  them. 
Unless  you  can  get  good  mated  breeders,  not  over  three  or  four  years  old, 
I  think  it  better  to  get  youngsters  from  the  nests  when  about  four  or  five 
weeks  old,  or  ready  for  market,  and  raise  your  own  breeders.  It  will  be 
six  months  before  you  begin  to  see  any  profit,  but  you  have  the  advantage 
of  knowing  the  age  of  your  birds,  and  that  they  are  good  for  eight  or  10 
years'  service. 

It  is  best  to  start  with  no  more  than  you  can  familiarize  yourself  with 
and  be  able  to  tell  which  are  mates,  keeping  the  unmated  birds  separate 
from  those  that  are  mated.  You  can  mate  almost  any  cock  and  hen  you 
wish  mated  together  by  placing  them  in  a  coop  by  themselves  a  few  days, 
and  when  once  mated  they  are  usually  there  for  life  unless  forcibly  sepa- 
rated.    When  it  is  convenient  to  do  so  it  is  best  to  get  the  young  birds 


Companions  of  the  Hen.  95 

from  two  different  breeders,  and  in  mating  use  one  from  each  breeder  for 
each  pair,  so  as  to  have  no  possibility  of  inbreeding. 

For  feed  use  coarse  cracked  corn  three  parts,  whole  corn  two  parts, 
wheat  two  parts,  Canada  peas  two  parts,  hemp  seed  one  part.  Always 
be  sure  that  the  feed  is  sweet  and  sound,  and  never  feed  any  new  grain 
until  it  is  well  dried  out  and  hard.  When  convenient  I  prefer  feeding 
three  times  per  day  on  the  ground  in  the  fly,  giving  them  all  they  will 
clean  up;  if  not  convenient  to  feed  at  noon,  cracked  corn  may  be  kept 
before  them  all  the  time  in  a  feeder  so  arranged  that  it  will  be  kept  clean 
and  dry.  Always  give  fresh  water  when  feeding,  and  have  a  pan  of  water 
large  enough   for  them  to  bathe   in. 

Keep  good  sharp  grit  and  ground  oyster  shells  before  them  all  the  time. 
-Mso  keep  a  mixture  of  ground  charcoal  six  parts,  old  mortar  or  plaster 
three  parts  and  fine  salt  one  part,  where  they  may  have  free  access  to  it, 
and  supply  them  with  tobacco  stems  for  them  to  make  their  nests  with. 
These  may  be  either  on  the  floor  of  the  house  or  in  the  fly,  and  the  birds 
will  use  them  as  they  need  them.  Any  coarse  hay  or  straw  will  answer  in 
place  of  the  tobacco,  but  the  tobacco  is  a  protection  against  lice.  The 
squabs  are  ready  for  market  when  four  to  five  weeks  old,  and  first-class 
squabs  bring  from  $3  to  $4.50  per  dozen  in  New  York  markets,  according 
to  the  season.  If  you  get  good  breeding  stock  and  give  them  good  care 
they  will  repay  you  well. 

CARE  OF  TURKEYS.— We  have  found  young  turkeys  as  easy  to 
raise  as  chickens  when  cared  for  in  the  following  manner :  The  method 
of  hatching  is  immaterial — a  reliable  incubator,  hens  or  turkey  hens,  which- 
ever is  most  convenient.  The  time,  however,  is  important.  As  the 
Springs  here  are  cold  and  often  wet  we  find  it  better  to  have  poults  hatch 
about  June  1.  Have  sufficient  turkey  hens  sitting  to  care  for  the  poults 
when  hatched.  If  they  have  been  sitting  but  a  week  you  may  put  the 
newly-hatched,  but  thoroughly  dried,  little  poults  under  them  at  night 
and  they  will  care  for  them.  Never  try  to  raise  turkeys  in  a  brooder  or 
with  common  hens.  Do  not  give  more  than  20  poults  to  each  hen  to 
mother,  and  place  turkey  and  brood  in  a  triangular  pen  made  of  boards 
"12  inches  wide  and  placed  on  edge.  Place  within  this  enclosure  a  house 
of  some  kind.  If  the  weather  be  warm  an  A-shaped  lath  coop  will  answer. 
Have  the  pen  movable,  and  move  to  fresh  grass  frequently.  Feed  the 
turkey  plenty  of  corn,  but  do  not  feed  the  poults  until  36  hours  after  the 
last  one  is  hatched.  Provide  fresh  water  in  clean  drinking  fountains 
and  grit. 

Sprinkle  the  hen  with  a  good  insect  powder,  and  keep  the  poults  at  all 
times  free  from  lice.  Between  the  third  and  sixth  day  spread  the  wing  of 
each  little  poult  and  pull  out  the  six  quills  you  will  find  starting  to  grow 
along  the  outer  edge.     When  the  poults  can  fly  over  this  pen  let  them 


96  The    Business    Hen. 

have  free  range  with  their  mother,  but  see  that  they  come  home  at  night 
if  you  are  obliged  to  bring  them  a  few  times.  Feed  liberally  when  they 
come  home,  and  always  have  grit  and  fresh  water  where  they  may  have 
free  access  to  it.  Keep  their  house  and  pen  clean.  A  turkey  will  not  live 
in  filthy  quarters,  nor  if  lousy.  If  you  are  making  a  success  of  the  dry- 
feeding  system  with  chicks  you  will  succeed  with  the  turkeys  by  the  same 
system.  Pinhead  or  flake  oatmeal,  dry  bread  soaked  with  milk  or  water 
and  squeezed  dry,  curds  mixed  with  chopped  onion  or  dandelion  tops  are 
all  good  foods.  Sometimes  we  are  able  to  buy  through  our  grocer  break- 
fast food  or  pinhead  oatmeal  that  has  become  wormy  (not  musty)  at 
greatly  reduced  prices,  and  they  make  excellent  food  for  turkeys  or  chicks. 
Feed  no  sloppy  foods  and  not  too  much  at  one  time. 

BANTAM  BREEDING.— Bantams  need  but  little  room,  and  little  feed. 
They  are  very  attractive  and  useful,  not  merely  pets,  as  they  are  good 
layers  of  good-sized  and  rich  eggs.  I  have  used  an  incubator  for  hatch- 
ing, but  prefer  hens.  If  I  have  Bantams  that  I  can  spare  I  use  them,  but 
usually  common  hens.  If  large  hens  are  used  their  nests  should  be  in  a 
low  box  six  inches  deep,  the  nest  made  but  little  dishing,  as  the  eggs  will 
move  more  readily  as  the  hen  steps  among  them.  For  this  reason  the 
fewer  eggs  under  a  hen  the  better.  The  eggs  are  quite  as  likely  to  be 
fertile  and  hatch  as  any  larger  breeds.  A  box  should  be  placed  over  the 
hen  after  she  has  been  fed  and  watered  each  day.  This  not  only  secures 
her  from  being  disturbed,  but  prevents  her  from  coming  off  many  times 
a  day,  as  some  will,  each  time  endangering  the  eggs.  I  do  not  find  the 
chicks  quite  as  hardy  or  as  easy  to  raise  as  larger  breeds  until  feathered. 
They  feather  so  young  and  fast  that  they  need  good  feed  and  care  at  this 
time.  For  a  few  days  when  first  hatched,  hard-boiled  eggs  and  bread 
crumbs  chopped  fine  are  best  for  them ;  later  cracked  wheat,  millet  and 
ground  beef  scraps,  and  some  whole  grain.-  For  head  and  throat  lice  and 
around  the  little  cluster  of  feathers  in  front  of  the  vent  use  a  little  grease. 
Fresh  butter  is  good;  sweet  cream  is  still  better,  and  will  not  injure  if  used 
liberally  on  turkeys  or  chickens.  This  will  do  little  good,  however,  if  the 
hen  has  lice.  This  season  I  have  taken  a  feather,  and  with  a  liquid  lice 
killer  touched  the  hen  under  and  above  in  many  places.  If  this  is  done 
in  the  morning  when  the  chicks  are  a  few  days  old,  and  the  hen  in  an 
open  coop,  so  the  chicks  can  get  plenty  of  air,  it  will  not  hurt  them,  but 
will  rid  both  hen  and  chicks  of  lice  for  a  long  time,  if  not  for  the 
season. 

THE  DUCK.— The  principal  breeds  are  Pekin,  Rouen,  Cayuga,  Mus- 
covy and  Aylesbury.  The  Pekin  is  most  extensively  raised.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  methods  of  a  successful  commercial  breeder.  For  the  first 
four  days  after  hatching  they  have  a  mixture  of  two-thirds  bread  crumbs 
and  boiled  eggs,  in  the  proportion  of  four  parts  of  bread  to  one  of  egg, 


Companions     of    the     Hen.  97 

and  one-third  rolled  oats.  At  the  end  of  four  days  five  per  cent  of  sand, 
not  gravel,  is  added  to  the  food,  and  each  day  following,  until  the  end  of 
the  first  week,  the  food  is  gradually  changed  by  substituting  bran  and 
meal  for  egg  and  bread.  After  a  week  two  parts  of  wheat  bran,  one  of 
cornmeal  and  10  per  cent  of  beef  scrap  are  given,  and  the  five  per  cent 
sand  is  continued  until  the  ducks  are  fattened.  Salt  is  used  for  flavoring 
at  all  times.  About  the  time  sand  is  given  green  food  is  begun.  This 
must  be  tender  and  succulent  on  the  start,  like  clover,  green  rye  or  tender 
grass  cut  fine.  In  Winter  cabbage,  turnips,  beets,  potatoes  or  any  vege- 
tables chopped  into  small  pieces  with  a  root  cutter,  or  even  nice  clover 
hay  cut  and  cooked  will  do.  The  green  stuff  is  mixed  with  the  other  fooQ 
in  a  large  box,  and  moistened,  but  not  made  sloppy.  At  seven  weeks  old 
fattening  commences,  using  two  parts  cornmeal  to  one  of  bran,  and  1ft 
per  cent  beef  scrap,  fed  four  times  a  day,  all  they  will  eat  up  clean.  At 
10  weeks  they  weigh  not  far  from  five  pounds  and  are  then  marketed. 
At  that  time  the  temporary  plumage  is  perfected.  If  allowed  to  go  longer 
the  pin  feathers  of  the  adult  plumage  begin  to  start,  and  it  would 
be  six  weeks  before  they  would  again  be  in  condition.  The  ducks  to  be 
fattened  are  not  allowed  to  go  into  the  water,  as  the  exercise  works  off 
their  flesh.  Those  kept  as  breeders  swim  all  they  wish.  Tfiey  are  selected 
when  five  weeks  old,  and  never  fattened.  Their  feed  is  one-third  each 
of  bran,  vegetables  and  corn  and  oats,  with  a  little  animal  feed  in  the 
form  of  beef  scrap,  fish  scrap  and  fresh  fish. 

In  marketing,  the  desired  number  are  removed  from  the  pen  and 
driven  to  another  enclosure.  There  they  find  a  bath  with  pure  running 
water.  This  being  their  first  opportunity  for  bathing,  they  go  at  it  at 
once  and  soon  come  out  clean  and  white.  Then  they  go  to  the  slaughter 
house,  where  they  are  killed  and  picked  in  the  usual  way. 

Ducks  cannot  stand  the  sun,  so  their  yard  should  be  well  shaded.  Plum 
trees  make  an  excellent  shade,  and  usually  thrive  in  a  poultry  yard.  An- 
other essential  is  plenty  of  pure  water  for  drinking,  so  arranged  that  they 
cannot  get  into  it.  VVhere  one  has  water  under  pressure  small  streams 
may  be  piped  into  little  troughs  and  kept  running  steadily. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Health  of  the  Hen. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  PREVENTION.— Vermin,  germs  and  impropei 
cape  are  re.sponsible  for  most  poultry  diseases.  Yet  when  the  conditions 
favoring  sanitary  care  of  the  flock  are  understood  probably  no  other  animal 
can  be  more  safely  raised  in  large  numbers.  The  slight  value  of  the  indi- 
vidual fowl  makes  the  employment  of  a  veterinarian  out  of  the  question ; 
most  that  he  can  do  is  to  advise  as  to  stamping  out  disease  and  preventing 
future  outbreaks.  It  is  sometimes  claimed  that  successful  doctoring  can  be 
done  at  long  range  and  at  a  considerable  lapse  of  time,  but  the  bodies  of 
fowls  are  as  delicate  and  complex  as  those  of  other  animals,  and  imme- 
diate attention  and  nursing  are  needed.  Ideally  the  poultryman  should  so 
care  for  the  flock  that  it  could  not  have  disease.  The  remedies  of  the 
poultryman  are  not  quinine,  calomel  and  aconite,  but  the  axe,  the  fence 
and  quick  lime  or  other  disinfectants  judiciously  used. 

HEREDITY. — Hereditary  diseases  among  fowls  are  few.  Probably  the 
most  important  is  lack  of  vitality  inherited  by  young  chicks  as  a  result 
of  too  close  inbreeding  of  the  parents,  or  the  fact  that  either  parent  is 
too  fat.  Inherited  weaknesses,  the  result  of  inbreeding,  cannot  be  cured. 
The  poultryman  must  either  begin  with  new  stock  or  replace  some  portion 
of  it  with  new  blood,  and  so  breed  out  the  weakness.  Very  close  inbreeding 
may  result  in  deformed  bodies,  wings  or  feet,  in  deranged  nervous  systems, 
or  in  sterility.  On  the  other  hand,  advocates  of  line  breeding  have  secured 
good  results  while  trying  to  avoid  the  faults  of  very  close  inbreeding. 

CORRECT  FEEDING.— Improper  feeding  with  the  usual  foodstuffs 
does  not  cause  many  diseases,  but  it  may  cause  loss  in  the  productivity  of 
the  underfed  or  overfed  individual.  Starvation  and  obesity  approach  dis- 
eased conditions  as  extremes  are  reached.  Overfeeding  is  iattended  by 
the  most  serious  difficulties.  The  fat  being  deposited  to  excess  in  various 
organs  as  the  liver,  heart  or  oviduct  muscles  weakens  them  and  often  ends 
in  the  destruction  of  the  fowl.  Ruptures  of  the  liver  and  various  veins 
of  the  body  seem  to  be  brought  about  by  fatty  degeneration ;  also  a  failure 
of  muscular  power  to  extrude  the  egg.  Clean,  uncontaminated  water  aids 
in  dissolving  the  food,  and  grit,  to  assist  in  grinding  it,  should  always  be  at 
hand.  While  it  is  possible  that  chickens  may  survive  some  time  without 
grit  it  is  certain  that  they  grow  much  better  and  keep  healthier  when  it  is 
at  hand.  The  diagnosis  of  disorders  from  incorrect  feeding  is  difficult. 
The  scales  should  soon  tell  whether  the  fowls  are  too  heavy,  even  if  the 
caretaker  has  not  discovered  when  handling  them  on  the  roost  that  their 


The    Health    of    the    Hen.  99 

flesh  is  too  fat  or  flabby,  or  possibly  too  bony.  The  condition  of  the 
fowl  must  be  noted  by  the  sense  of  feeling  as  well  as  by  the  eye.  The 
only  means  of  restoring  too  fat  fowls  to  a  normal  condition  is  to  deprive 
them  of  a  portion  of  the  food  they  would  otherwise  need  and  make  them 
hunt  and  pick  for  what  they  get.     Starve  them  into  health. 

"COLDS"  OR  INFLUENZA  are  caused  by  abrupt  changes  of  tem- 
perature. They  may  occur  in  Winter  or  Summer,  but  are  always  the 
result  of  a  draft.  In  an  endeavor  to  secure  more  air  to  carry  off  odors 
houses  have  been  arranged  so  that  drafts  blew  directly  upon  the  fowls. 
A  cold  is  indicated  by  sneezing  and  a  slight  discharge  at  the  nostrils 
which  collect  dirt  and  straws.  If  severe  cases  the  affected  fowls  droop.  In 
an  outbreak  of  this  character  there  may  be  inflammation  of  the  lungs. 
The  only  remedy  for  colds  is  to  arrange  the  house  so  that  there  can  be 
no  cross  drafts  from  doors,  windows  or  cracks.  The  use  of  muslin  cur- 
tains instead  of  some  of  the  glass  windows  is  a  preventive.  These  act 
by  permitting  the  moisture  transpired  by  the  hens  to  pass  though,  by  retain- 
ing heat,  stopping  direct  drafts  and  allowing  slow  diffusion  of  the  inside 
and  outside  air.  Frozen  combs,  wattles  and  feet  are  prevented  by  keeping 
the  sleeping  chamber  as  dry  as  possible  and  comfortably  warm.  This  is 
effected  by  muslin  curtains  which  divide  the  roosting  place  from  the  rest 
of  the  room,  and  limit  the  space  to  be  heated  by  the  fowls. 

SANITARY  HOUSES.— Moisture  in  the  henhouse  should  be  avoided, 
as  it  is  most  destructive  to  the  comfort  and  health  of  the  fowl.  The  only 
economical  method  of  doing  this  is  by  permitting  the  inside  air  to  exchange 
its  moisture  contents  freely  with  the  outside.  The  muslin  screen  seems  at 
present  to  be  the  cheapest  and  best.  Many  poultrymen  make  use  of  the 
loft  of  the  larger  houses  for  ventilation  by  covering  a  loose  flooring  with 
a  foot  of  hay  and  opening  doors  in  the  gables.  All  inside  structures  should 
be  made  so  that  fowls  cannot  injure  themselves.  The  lighter  breeds 
usually  suffer  little  harm  from  bruises,  but  the  heavier  may  receive  them 
on  their  feet  or  their  wings  on  account  of  the  construction  of  the  house. 
As  a  rule  the  dropping  board  and  perch  should  be  well  upon  the  side  of 
the  house,  so  that  the  hens  will  have  all  the  floor  space  and  the  roosts 
will  be  in  the  warmer  part'  of  the  building.  For  the  heavier  breeds  run- 
ways should  be  made  leading  up  to  the  roosts  and  the  roost  wired  in  with 
removable  netting,  so  that  the  birds  cannot  fly  down.  Their  wings  are 
as  compared  to  their  body  weight  so  weak  that  in  the  short  distance  from 
roost  to  floor  they  receive  little  help  from  them  and  fall  instead  of  fly. 
This  applies  to  the  heavier  American  breeds  as  well  as  the  Asiatic.  The 
wings  often  get  bruised  by  trying  to  fly  through  too  small  openings  when 
scared  or  by  careless  handling.  Fowls  contract  but  few  diseases  from  the 
yards  aside  from  the  parasitic.  They  are  more  liable  to  the  effects  ot 
improper  feeding  and  the  lack  of  exercise  when  confined,  but  when  once 


y 


100  The    Business    Hen. 

they  are  yarded  the  poultryman  is  compelled  to  supply  the  feed,  water 
and  means  of  exercise  in  order  to  realize  his  profit.  As  compared  to  free 
range  the  discomforts  of  the  ordinary  henyard  are  many.  Too  frequently 
no  provision  is  made  for  protection  of  the  fowls  from  the  cold  Winter 
blasts  or  fiercely  hot  Summer  sun,  against  which  the  fowl  when  allowed 
free  range  always  chooses  sheltered  thickets  or  the  lee  of  some  fence,  wall 
or  building.  The  chief  protection  against  vermin,  parasites  and  communi- 
cable  diseases   is  the   wire   fence. 

WIRE  FENCE. — The  height  chosen  should  be  according  to  the  fowla 
kept  and  the  size  of  the  yards.  For  small  yards  those  40  or  50  feet  wide 
by  80  or  100  long,  a  height  of  seven  feet  for  Leghorns,  is  ample;  three 
feet  of  woven  wire,  one  inch  mesh,  is  .used  at  the  bottom  and  buried  at 
least  six  inches  in  the  soil.  Four  feet  of  two-inch  mesh  fills  the  top.  The 
corner  posts  are  set  like  the  others,  whether  in  dug  holes  or  driven.  A  stiff 
pole  for  a  brace  is  placed  horizontally  between  the  corner  and  next  post, 
provided  the  latter  is  not  more  than  eight  or  10  feet  away,  and  at  a  height 
of  four  feet  from  the  ground.  Notches  may  be  made  to  hold  the  brace  in 
position  or  it  may  be  nailed.  A  No.  9  wire  is  then  passed  around  the 
bottom  of  the  corner  post  and  top  of  the  second  post  and  back  to  the 
corner  post,  where  after  pulling  as  tight  as  possible  the  ends  are  fastened. 
Nails  may  be  used  to  keep  the  wire  in  place  while  fastening.  A  short  iron 
rod  should  then  be  used  to  twist  the  wire  by  placing  it  between  the  two 
strands  near  the  middle  and  turning  it  over  and  over  until  the  twisted  wire 
is  taut.  This  completes  a  corner  that  will  not  give  and  will  be  heaved  by 
freezing  very  little.  If  displaced  it  may  be  easily  driven  back.  The  gates 
are  made  four  feet  wide  with  a  removable  foot-wide  board  across  the 
bottom.  These  can  be  cheaply  made  of  furring  two  inches  wide,  a  few 
nails  and  woven  wire.  Cut  four  pieces  the  width  of  the  gate.  Cut  two  the 
length  of  the  gate.  Cut  one  to  reach  from  the  bottom  next  the  hinge  to 
the  top  on  the  swinging  side  and  miter  its  corners  so  that  they  fit  against 
the  side  sticks,  especially  at  the  bottom.  When  fastened  together  a  space 
is  left  between  the  top  and  bottom  cross-pieces.  The  nails  driven  through 
the  three  pieces  and  the  cross  brace  together  with  the  separated  double 
pieces  make  a  very  strong  light  gate.  The  advantage  of  this  fence  is  that 
fowls  do  not  try  to  dig  under.  They  rarely  try  to  fly  over.  Only  cats 
and  hawks  can  enter.  The  fence  seems  to  be  practically  rat  proof.  The 
tendency  of  animals  to  tunnel  under  seems  to  be  avoided  by  the  clear  view 
through  the  wire.  Dogs,  skunks  and  minks  are  surely  kept  out.  No  com- 
municable disease  can  enter  excepting  when  carried  by  some  hen  or  by 
the  attendant.  The  disease  that  is  carried  through  the  air  is  very  rare. 
Even  mites  and  hen  lice  are  little  likely  to  leave  their  haunts  to  invade 
other  pens. 


The    Health    of    the    Hen.  101 

TREATMENT  OF  YARDS.— Manure  from  healthy  fowls  will  so 
pollute  small  yards  as  to  make  them  unhealthy  and  render  cultivation  of 
the  soil  necessary.  It  is  not  likely  that  even  disease  germs  would  outlast 
the  attacks  of  the  soil  bacteria  throughout  a  season  when  the  ground  is 
properly  spaded  or  plowed  and  cultivated.  The  uncleaned  hen  roost  has 
been  called  the  greatest  meance  to  the  hens,  but  probably  the  yards  and  the 
water  furnish  the  larger  part  of  the  infection.  Yards  which  are  virtually 
fields  and  can  be  cultivated  for  various  crops  in  succession  furnish  the 
best  facilities  for  the  hen  and  are  the  healthiest.  By  locating  the  houses 
at  the  touching  corners  of  four  fields  the  fences  can  easily  be  arranged 
so  as  to  use  either  at  will.  The  portable  house  has  its  sanitary  value  in 
the  warm  months.  The  turning  under  of  polluted  soil  and  removal  of  the 
fowls  during  the  cultivation  of  a  crop  renew  the  fields  so  that  they  can  be 
used  alternately  year  after  year  to  the  advantage  of  both  crop  and  fowls. 
Newly  hatched  and  small  chicks  must  be  yarded  somewhat  diffierently  from 
old  fowls.  For  these  in  Spring  and  Summer  there  is  no  better  place  than 
seme  spot  within  the  orchard  which  has  been  enclosed  by  a  three-foot  inch 
mesh  net  wire  fence,  with  lower  edge  buried  in  the  ground.  This  will 
keep  them  from  being  lost  in  the  wet  grass. 

BROODING  TROUBLES.— The  diseases  of  brooding  are  mainly  those 
which  arise  from  the  lack  of  heat  and  food,  the  former  by  far  the  more 
important.  The  result  of  brooding  by  the  hens  is  the  application  of  heat 
to  the  chick,  and  when  food  is  plenty  the  hen  that  is  most  successful  is  the 
one  that  has  paid  the  strictest  attention  to  business.  So  in  artificial  brood- 
ing success  depends  upon  the  application  of  heat.  When  disease  occurs 
in  hatching  and  brooding  artificially  it  is  in  most  cases  directly  due  to 
the  lack  of  heat  or  its  improper  application  and  not  to  the  stock  from 
which  the  eggs  came.  The  success  of  artificial  brooding  will  depend  upon 
the  brooder  and  its  treatment.  Artificially  raised  chicks  being  deprived 
of  the  hen's  care  learn  but  slowly  and  must  be  housed  and  yarded  for  some 
time.  There  need  be  no  worry  about  chicks  contracting  such  diseases  as 
gapes  if  they  are  kept  from  other  fowls  and  on  uninfected  runs.  It  is 
safer  and  more  economical  of  labor  to  brood  the  chicks  until  they  are 
four  or  five  weeks  old  even  in  Summer. 

ROUP. — Bacterial  diseases  which  show  their  main  symptoms  in  the 
head  are  known  as  roup,  the  nostrils  become  stopped  by  inflammation  and 
inflammatory  products,  the  mucous  sacs  of  the  eye  socket  become  filled 
and  often  cause  the  head  to  swell  and  the  eye  to  project.  An  examination 
of  the  nasal  opening  in  the  roof  of  the  mouth  often  shows  a  yellow  cheesy 
deposit.  These  discharges  have  a  characteristic  odor  of  dead  tissue.  The 
cheesy  deposits  also  extend  to  the  opening  of  the  windpipe.  When  the 
breathing  becomes  obstructed  the  fowl  emits  a  gasping  noise  which  gives 
rise  to  the  name  roup.     It  is  probable  that  there  are  no  less  than  three, 


102  The    Business    Hen. 

perhaps  four,  distinct  diseases  which  are  all  called  roup.  To  the  poultry- 
man  this  fact  has  at  present  but  little  importance,  as  the  same  means  are 
taken  in  combating  each.  While  the  main  symptom  exists  in  the  head  the 
more  severe  forms  involve  the  whole  body.  These  diseases  are  readily 
diagnosed  by  general  droopiness,  by  visible  inflammation  of  the  head,  by 
roupy  sounds  and  the  odor.  They  are  all  caused  by  organisms  which  pass 
from  bird  to  bird.  They  begin  by  the  introduction  of  a  fowl  carrying  the 
disease  into  the  flock  and  their  spread  is  greatly  favored  by  conditions 
which  cause  the  fowls  to  catch  cold.  To  avoid  the  disease  one  should 
thoroughly  examine  the  heads  of  each  new  purchase  and  keep  all  the  fowls 
separate  from  other  flocks.  The  houses  should  be  so  constructed  as  to 
avoid  direct  drafts  on  the  hens,  and  neither  be  too  moist  nor  too  hot. 
Fowls  kept  in  cold  sheds  rarely  take  cold.  When  the  fowls  have  once 
contracted  either  of  the  roup  diseases  there  is  no  medicinal  remedy  that 
will  be  satisfactory  or  that  it  will  pay  to  give.  An  affected  flock  should 
be  at  once  quarantined  in  a  light,  dry  room  with  floor  and  without  direct 
drafts.  The  room  should  be  whitewashed  thoroughly  in  all  parts,  including 
floor.  The  floor  should  be  sanded,  but  during  the  virulence  of  the  out- 
break straw  should  be  omitted.  The  hens  should  be  fed  sparingly  so  as 
not  to  fatten  too  greatly  during  their  quarantine.  While  medicine  as  iron 
sulphate,  carbonate  or  disinfectants,  as  often  recommended,  may  be  put 
into  the  drinking  water,  the  quantity  advised  is  hardly  ever  sufficient  to 
make  the  water  antiseptic.  It  is  better  to  scald  out  the  dishes  regularly  and 
give  pure  drinking  water.  By  remodelling  or  changing  the  quarantine 
quarters  and  confinement  on  the  board  floor  most  of  the  fowls  will  get 
better.  Some  may  get  worse  and  these  it  will  be  necessary  to  kill.  There 
is  little  use  for  disinfectants  beyond  the  whitewash,  which  should  be  used 
quite  liberally  each  time  the  house  is  cleaned.  If  made  thin  a  liberal 
amount  spread  on  the  floor  after  sweeping  up  the  sand  will  quite  thor- 
oughly disinfect.  The  whitewash  should  for  this  purpose  be  freshly  made 
from  unslaked  lime.  If  one  preferred,  any  of  the  coal  tar  disinfectants 
could  be  used.  Whitewash  is  cheap  and  efficient  for  all  purposes  when 
thoroughly  applied.  It  would  not  be  wise  to  allow  a  flock  that  had  once 
been  affected  with  roup  ever  to  have  complete  liberty  again  for  fear  of 
a  future  outbreak  from  some  undiscovered  patient.  They  should  be  kept 
securely  yarded  and  housed.  After  they  have  become  sufficiently  aged 
and  all  the  eggs  for  hatching  be  obtained  from  them  that  are  needed,  they 
should  be  killed,  quarters  thoroughly  disinfected  and  their  yards  abandoned 
for  a  time  to  allow  disinfection  through  changes  of  the  weather.  This 
may  be  aided  by  liming  and  cultivation. 

DIPHTHERETIC  ROUP.— Fowls  with  diphtheretic  roup  have  been 
treated  by  swabbing  out  the  membranes  and  touching  them  with  peroxide 
of  hydrogen,  two  per  cent  carbolic  acid  solution,  borax  and  other  more  or 


The    Health     of    the    Hen.  103 

less  imperfect  disinfecting  preparations.  These  often  succeed.  While 
diphtheretic  roup  in  fowls  seems  from  recent  investigation  to  be  an  entirely 
different  disease  from  diphtheria  in  man,  the  operator  should  take  no 
chances  and  disinfect  his  hands  and  operating  tools  in  two  per  cent  carbolic 
acid  solution  after  a  thorough  scrubbing  in  soap  and  water.  Above  all, 
should  there  be  no  carrying  of  buckets,  brooms  or  hoes  from  the  quaran- 
tine hospital  to  other  houses.  It  is  better  to  provide  a  pair  of  rubbers 
for  use  in  the  quarantine  house  and  yard  so  as  to  prevent  tracking  infec- 
tion from  house  to  house. 

CHOLERA.— The  cholera  type  of  diseases,  or  those  in  which  the  germs 
enter  the  system  through  the  intestinal  tract  and  are  disseminated  through 
the  droppings,  comprise  three  diseases  perhaps  more,  all  due  to  different 
germs.  They  should  be  handled  when  an  outbreak  occurs  much  the  same 
as  the  roup  diseases.  However,  in  these  diseases,  especially  the  typhoidal 
forms,  there  is  more  danger  from  infection  contaminating  the  ground,  and 
great  care  should  be  taken  with  infected  ground  either  by  abandonment  or 
by  intensive  cultivation.  Liming  when  necessary  to  correct  acidity,  spading 
and  cultivation  will  enable  the  nitrifying  bacteria  to  grow  which  in  warm 
seasons  will  destroy  the  disease  making  germs.  The  author  has  frequently 
collected  infected  fowls  carried  them  for  some  miles  placed  them  in  a  coop 
with  board  floor,  believing  that  they  would  die  only  to  have  them  improve 
under  the  changed  surroundings.  Little  is  known  about  the  length  of  time 
either  of  this  class  of  diseases  may  live  in  the  ground  or  in  the  animal.  If 
remedies  are  given  it  should  be  remembered  that  any  alkalies  as  carbonate 
of  soda,  Epson  or  Glauber  salts  create  inflammation  of  the  intestine  and 
permit  germs  to  enter  the  system  more  readily.  The  acid  stops  diarrhoeas 
when  present  and  may  possibly  be  helpful.  The  presence  of  the  virulent 
communicable  disease  of  the  cholera  type  is  ascertained  by  droopiness  of 
the  fowls  and  subsequent  death.  Oftentimes  the  droopiness  passes  unob- 
served. Diseases  produced  by  errors  of  feeding  generally  take  some  timt 
to  develop  unless  something  acting  like  a  poison  is  taken,  and  then  a  large 
number  are  suddenly  taken ;  some  die  and  the  others  recover.  The  various 
forms  of  this  class  of  disease  cannot  easily  be  told  apart  in  the  hen  yard. 
One  of  them,  infectious  leuksemia.  causes  death  within  three  or  four  days, 
with  scarcely  12  hours  droopiness  and  without  any  easily  ascertainable 
symptoms.  Fowl  cholera  lasts  from  two  to  three  weeks,  is  accompanied  by 
droopiness  and  may  or  may  not  be  accompanied  by  diarrhoea.  Diarrhoea 
in  fowls  is  indicated  by  frequent  evacautations  of  soft  greenish,  brownish 
or  yellowish  stools.  The  white  watery  stool  sometimes  seen  is  not  indica- 
tive of  diarrhoea,  but  of  lack  of  intestinal  evacuations.  It  consists  of  the 
lime  products  secreted  by  the  kidneys  and  is  usually  in  excess  in  fevers. 
The  disease  called  "going  light"  in  fowls  may  arise  from  chronic  forms 
of  cholera,  from  starvation  produced  by  mechanical   derangements  of  the 


104  The    Business    Hen. 

system  or  possibly  from  bacterial  and  parasitic  forms.  As  the  name  indi- 
cates the  fowls  become  thin  and  light  in  weight.  When  communicable 
disease  is  concerned  there  will  be  no  attempt  at  diagnosis  until  the  fowls 
are  visibly  affected  and  begin  to  die.  Should  they  die  suddenly  without 
previous  illness  one  may  suspect  infectious  leukaemia.  Should  there  be 
some  droopiness  noted  and  the  fowls  stop  feeding  cholera  may  be  the  cause. 
In  both  these  diseases  many  fowls  of  the  flock  will  be  affected,  while  in 
chronic  forms  of  these  and  other  diseases  there  will  be  but  few  at  a  time. 
Since  medicinal  treatment  will  always  prove  unsatisfactory  the  exact 
diagnosis  of  a  disease  will  not  matter,  for  the  same  thorough  steps  must 
be  taken  to  limit  the  spread  of  the  disease  whether  it  be  one  thing  or 
another.  There  is  no  help  for  the  poultryman  except  in  that  perpetual 
vigilance  which  wards  off  all  diseases. 

GAPES. — This  is  caused  by  worms  one-half  to  three-fourths  inch  long, 
which  attach  themselves  inside  the  windpipe.  They  are  always  red  from 
the  blood  taken  from  the  fowls.  Here  they  breed  and  when  adult  are 
coughed  out  upon  the  ground,  when  their  eggs  are  sown  broadcast. 
Artificially  raised  chicks  will  not  contract  gape  worms  unless  placed  on 
the  ground  where  chickens  have  contracted  or  scattered  the  disease.  Earth 
worms  may  carry  the  trouble.  Gape  worms  are  indicated  by  the  frequent 
gaping  or  gasping  of  the  chicks  for  air.  The  old  familiar  horse  hair  loop 
or  the  feather  end  dipped  in  turpentine  will  remove  them.  However,  time 
and  chicks  may  be  saved  during  the  succeeding  year  by  removing  the 
coops  to  a  new  lot,  cultivating  the  old  place  and  keeping  the  chicks  from  it. 
The  time  required  for  land  to  disinfect  itself  of  gape  worms  is  not  known. 
Since  robins  and  other  birds  may  perpetuate  them  it  is  possible  that  a  given 
space  may  never  be  exactly  safe.  Some  poultrymen  by  keeping  the  chicks 
on  a  board  floor  for  some  time  have  avoided  this  trouble. 

SCALY-LEG. — Another  parasitic  disease  caused  by  minute  mites  which 
insert  themselves  under  the  scales  covering  the  feet  is  called  "scaly-leg." 
While  not  particularly  noticeable  in  early  stages  it  is  readily  diagnosed  by 
the  comparatively  enormous  roughening  of  the  scales  caused  in  the  later 
stages.  Since  it  does  not  spread  from  fowl  to  fowl  it  should  be  treated 
regularly  until  cured.  The  legs  should  be  dipped  in  carbolized  vaseline, 
sweet  oil,  kerosene  or  washed  with  creoline  dips.  The  oils  act  better  than 
water  dips  because  they  last  on  the  legs  longer,  and  thus  draw  out  the 
mites.  If  the  dips  are  repeated  the  scales  soften  and  the  inflammation  dis- 
appears until  feet  that  will  seem  beyond  cure  will  again  appear  healthy 
and  comparatively  smooth. 

SURGICAL  TREATMENT.— Crop-bound  is  a  condition  in  which  the 
crop  becomes  packed  with  food  because  of  stoppage  of  its  outlet  by  coarse 
material.  It  it  easily  remedied  by  cutting  into  the  crop  at  that  part  which 
is  on  "top  when  the  fowl  stands.     After  emptying  all  its  contents  the  raw 


The    Health    of    the    Hen.  105 

edges  should  be  treated  with  two  per  cent  carbolic  acid  or  creoline  mixture. 
Then  sew  the  crop  by  placing  the  raw  edges  together  and  tying  each  time 
the  needle  is  passed  through.  Coarse  linen  or  silk  thread  is  equally  good. 
Do  not  put  the  inside  lining  edges  of  the  crop  together,  but  the  raw  edges. 
Then  disinfect  again  and  sew  the  raw  edges  of  the  skin  together.  Give 
the  hen  water  and  feed  a  little  soft  feed  for  three  days.  Incisions  into 
swellings  and  abscesses  do  little  permanent  good,  for  there  is  usually  no 
cure  effected.  Blunting  or  removing  the  spurs  of  the  cocks  often  saves 
the  lives  of  others  and  keeps  them  from  gashing  the  sides  of  the  hens. 


DOCTORING  POULTRY.— The  general  rules  for  guarding  the  health 
of  poultry,  given  above  by  Dr.  Curtice,  would,  if  followed  out  carefully. 
prevent  any  serious  outbreak  of  disease.  There  would  be  few  deaths  in 
the  flock  except  those  from  accident  or  old  age.  He  does  not  advocate 
dosing  or  fussing  with  sick  hens,  and  he  is  largely  right,  because  when 
a  hen  becomes  sick  enough  to  make  her  condition  evident  she  is  often  too 
far  gone  for  medicine.  For  those  who  wish  to  doctor  their  hens  we  add 
a  few  simple  rules  of  advice.  Read  the  notes  on  Tonics  for  Poultry  with 
care,  and  do  not  be  too  anxious  to  stuff  the  fowls  with  medicine.  Good 
food  and  clean  and  comfortable  quarters  give  a  condition  which  no  drugs 
can  possibly  supply. 

Lice  are  responsible  for  many  of  the  so-called  poultry  diseases.  They 
weaken  the  hen's  vitality  and  put  her  into  a  condition  which  makes  it 
impossible  for  her  to  do  well.  A  lousy  hen  may  have  ruffled  feathers,  a 
dark  comb,  looseness  of  the  bowels  and  other  symptoms  which  indicate 
some  form  of  chicken  cholera.  What  folly  it  would  be  to  dose  such  a  hen 
with  medicines  or  "tonics"  and  leave  the  lice  on  her  body  or  leave 
vermin  in  the  henhouse  which  she  occupies.  Would  it  not  be  just  as 
great  folly  to  doctor  a  hen  for  roup,  and  spray  her  throat  and  then  put 
her  back  into  some  damp  and  breezy  house  where  other  roupy  hens  stay? 
This  will  show  the  wisdom  of  what  Dr.  Curtice  says  and  the  need  of 
proper  care.  If  one  wishes  to  try  a  "roup  cure"  on  the  nostrils  or  throat 
the  following  will  be  found  as  good  as  any:  Equal  parts  ammonia,  tur- 
pentine and  glycerine.  We  have  seen  cases  of  roup  that  seemed  to  be 
relieved  by  dipping  the  entire  head  into  kerosene.  One  ounce  of  chlorate 
of  potash  in  a  pint  of  water  makes  a  good  wash  for  cases  of  sore  throat, 
but  of  course  hens  needing  any  such  treatment  should  be  put  by  them- 
selves. Reports  are  made  of  successful  treatment  of  cholera  by  giving 
in  the  early  stages  one  teaspoonful  of  a  solution  of  one  ounce  of  hypo- 
sulphite of  soda  in  a  pint  of  water.  Dry,  unslaked  lime  is  sometimes  used 
to  help  chicks  dispose  of  gape  worms.  The  chicks  are  put  into  a  civered 
box  with  a  layer  of  lime  at  the  bottom.  The  whole  thing  is  shaken  to  stir 
up  the  lime  into  a  dust.     Do  not  leave  the  chicks  inside  over  two  minutes. 


106  The    Business    Hen. 

If  combs  are  smeared  with  glycerine  or  vaseline  they  will  not  be  so  liable 
to  frost  bite.  A  good  dressing  for  all  wounds  on  animals  is  one  part 
carbolic  acid  in  three  parts  of  sweet  oil.  Feather  pulling  is  usually  caused 
by  idleness  or  a  lack  of  meat  in  the  diet.  Generally  there  are  a  few  birds 
in  the  flock  who  do  most  of  the  mischief.  If  they  can  be  caught  at  it 
they  would  better  be  killed.  Make  the  hens  work  or  scratch  for  their 
food  and  provide  meat  in  some  form.  Little  chicks  sometimes  kill  and 
eat  each  other.  Members  of  a  flock  have  been  known  to  attack  some 
wounded  bird  and  pick  it  to  pieces.  The  victim  usually  has  some  wound 
or  sore  that  shows  blood,  and  the  others  attack  this  spot.  It  usually  indi- 
cates a  lack  of  meat  in  the  ration.  This  should  be  supplied,  and  if  the 
trouble  is  bad  the  chicks  should  be  separated,  taken  to  fresh  ground  and 
sorted  so  that  the  smaller  ones  are  kept  separate. 

THE  CHICKEN  MITE.— This  little  insect  is  probably  the  worst 
single  enemy  of  the  average  farm  hen.  It  does  more  damage  than  the 
large  body  lice,  and  is  harder  to  destroy.  No  hen  can  be  profitable 
when  infested  with  these  mites.  The  hen  stops  laying,  the  feathers  are 
roughened,  the  head  becomes  pale,  the  bird  is  a  picture  of  unthrift.  It 
is  not  uncommon  for  hatching  hens  to  die  on  the  'nest,  or  to  be  driven 
away  from  their  eggs  by  these  horrible  creatures.  The  mites  also  attack 
the  little  chicks  and  kill  great  numbers  of  them.  The  insects  work  mostly 
at  night,  and  not  only  suck  the  hen's  blood  but  destroy  her  rest.  The 
insect  is  very  small  and  very  active.  Fig.  46  shows  one  greatly  en- 
larged. In  life  they  are  one-twenty- 
fifth  of  an  inch  long,  gray  in  color 
except  when  filled  with  blood,  when 
they  are  red.  They  usually  only  re- 
main upon  the  hen  long  enough  to 
secure  a  meal.  They  hide  in  cracks 
or  in  filth  and  litter  during  the  day, 
and  at  night  when  the  hens  return 
to    the    roosts    crawl    out    and    begin 

their    blood-sucking.      The    eggs    are 
Ki(!.  46.     CHICKEN  MITE.  ,    .^  j      ,     .,     j      •        .t  y  ■  a- 

laid     and     hatched     ui     these    hidmg 

places.     The  under  sides  of  the  roosts,  the  litter  and  straw   in  the  nests 

are  favorite  places.     They  breed  rapidly,  and  unless  destroyed  will  swarm 

all   over  the  house.     There  is  no  doubt  that  these  mites  can  be  carried 

from  one  farm  to  another  on  poultry,  coops,  clothing  or  eggs  bought  for 

hatching.     That  is  one  reason  why  no  strange  fowl  should  be  put  in  the 

house  without  a  thorough  dusting  with  insect  powder.     A  good  way  to 

use  the  powder  is  to  put  it  in  a  large  pepper  box  and  shake  it  out  among 

the  hen's  feathers.     In  some  cases  hens  are  dipped  in  a  warm  tea,  made 

by  steeping  tobacco  stems,  or  a  preparation  like  Zennleum.     The  "dipped" 


The    Health    of    the    Hen.  107 

hen  should  be  kept  out  of  all  draughts  and  kept  in  a  warm,  sunny  place. 
In  clearing  a  house  of  mites,  the  litter  and  straw  should  be  taken  from 
the  floor  and  nests  and  burned.  The  manure  must  be  taken  out.  As  the 
mites  spend  the  day  on  the  under  side  of  the  roosts  they  must  be  taken 
out  and  painted  with  kerosene  and  smeared  with  grease.  There  will  still 
be  millions  of  the  insects  left  in  cracks  and  holes.  They  can  only  be 
killed  by  thorough  scrubbing  and  spraying  with  some  biting  liquid  again 
and  again  until  both  insects  and  their  eggs  are  destroyed.  The  two  best 
sprays    are    named    below.      In    houses    where  ^ 

these  mites  are  found  all  the  fixtures  should  be    ^  i      >■  i       Si       xi        / 
loose  so  they  can  be  taken  out  for  cleaning.    I  I    I       |  I       11        I 


Tl 


A  form  of  nest  used  in  Mississippi  is  shown  in 
Fig.  47.     This  is  well  suited  to  a  hot  country.      /  2  ~^ 

In   this   the   pieces    C.    C.    are    the   only   ones 
fastened  to  the  building.    The  whole  thing  can 
be  easily  removed  for  cleaning.     The  Mississ- 
ippi   Station    recommends   cleaning   the   house  ^,   ^ 
^^                            ,               ,      ,               .                ,      .       i-    Fig.  47.      SANITARY  NEST 
every  two   weeks,   and  then   usmg  a   dust   of 

three  parts  slacked  lime  and  one  part  sulphur.    This  is  thrown  in  the  air 
up  to  the  roof  of  the  house  until  the  whole  place  is  filled  with  the  dust. 

KEROSENE  EMULSION.— This  emulsion  is  better  than  pure  kero- 
sene, because  it  will  dissolve  in  water  and  may  be  sprayed  or  washed  over 
the  walls.  Take  one-half  pound  of  hard  soap  and  shave  it  into  a  gallon 
of  soft  water;  put  it  on  the  fire  and  bring  it  to  a  boil.  By  this  time  the 
soap  will  be  dissolved.  Then  remove  the  soap  solution  from  the  fire  and 
stir  into  it  at  once,  while  hot,  two  gallons  of  kerosene.  This  makes  a 
thick,  creamy  emulsion,  which  is  made  ready  for  use  by  diluting  with 
10  volumes  of  soft  water,  and  stirring  well.  Make  up  as  much  of  the 
stock  emulsion  as  it  is  thought  will  be  needed.  This  can  be  kept  in  a 
suitable  vessel  and  a  portion  taken  out  and  diluted  as  needed.  If  the 
bucket  or  holder  attached  to  the  spray  pump  holds  five  gallons,  one-half 
gallon  of  the  stock  emulsion  should  be  taken  and  put  into  the  bucket  or 
holder  and  four  and  one-half  gallons  of  soft  water  added,  and  the  whole 
well  stirred.  It  is  then  ready  to  be  sprayed  on  the  places  occupied  by 
the  mites. 

LIME  AND  SULPHUR  WASH.— This  is  the  wash  recommended  to 
fruit  growers  for  spraying  to  kill  the  San  Jose  scale.  Some  fruit  growers 
drive  the  spray  pump  right  up  to  the  henhouse  door  and  thoroughly  spray 
the  inside.  The  wash  is  made  in  the  proportion  of  40  pounds  of  lime, 
20  pounds  of  sulphur  and  five  pounds  of  caustic  soda  in  60  gallons  of 
water.  Smaller  amounts  can  be  used  in  the  same  proportions.  Slake  the 
lime  by  pouring  water  over  it.  Mix  the  sulphur  into  a  thin  paste  and, 
while  the   lime   is   slaking,   poyr   it   tn,   .sti^  rapidly,  add  water   and   keep 


108  The    Business    Hen. 

stirring.  Have  the  caustic  soda  dissolved  in  water  and  stir  it  in  with 
the  lime  and  sulphur.  This  makes  a  reddish  brown  mixture,  and  when 
the  proper  amount  of  water  is  added  it  may  be  sprayed  in  the  house  or 
scrubbed  on  with  a  brush  or  broom.  It  is  a  biting  wash,  and  will  burn 
the  skin  where  it  touches,  but  it  is  sure  death  to  lice,  and  will  hold  its 
killing  power  for  weeks.  It  is  far  better  than  common  whitewash,  either 
lime  alone  or  with  carbolic  acid.  A  few  sprayings  with  this  wash  will 
kill  out  the  mites  and  give  the  hens  comfort. 

BODY  LICE. — These  are  larger  insects  that  remain  upon  the  hen, 
the  eggs  being  laid  on  the  feathers.  They  are  not  so  dangerous  as  the 
mites,  for  a  healthy  hen  provided  with  a  good  "dust  bath"  will  get  rid  of 
most  of  them.  When  hens  become  feeble  or  unable  to  dust,  the  body  lice 
do  great  damage.  Some  of  the  larger  breeds  do  not  use  the  dust  bath 
regularly,  and  their  feathers  are  thick  and  heavy.  In  Winter  some  poultry- 
men  go  so  far  as  to  warm  the  dusting  box  by  using  an  iron  bottom  with 
a  lamp  under  it.  Lime  mixed  with  the  dust  helps  destroy  the  lice,  but 
takes  the  gloss  from  the  plumage.  "Insect  powder,"  tobacco  dust  or 
sulphur  dusted  through  the  feathers  destroy  the  lice.  There  are  sev- 
eral devices  for  dusting  hens  rapidly.  One  of  them  works  like  a  barrel 
churn.  The  hen  is  put  inside  with  a  quantity  of  powder  and  turned  over 
and  over  several  times  so  that  the  powder  works  all  through  her  feathers. 
Grease  or  fat  will  destroy  the  lice.  A  mixture  of  lard  and  sulphur,  or 
equal  parts  of  lard  and  kerosene  smeared  under  the  wings,  around  the 
vent  and  on  the  head  and  neck  will  protect  the  hen.  The  head  lice  which 
attack  little  chicks  are  overcome  by  smearing  with  lard  and  sulphur,  butter 
or  even  cream,  but  as  is  stated  elsewhere,  the  chick  may  be  killed  if  too 
much  grease  is  used.  We  give  some  space  to  the  question  of  vermin,  but 
it  is  an  important  one.  Lice  are  probably  responsible  for  more  poultry 
failures  than  any  other  single  trouble.  With  a  fair  use  of  insect  powder 
and  the  lime  and  sulphur  wash  this  fearful  loss  may  be  prevented. 
TONICS  FOR  POULTRY. 

When  fowls  are  doing  well  it  is  not  usually  good  policy  to  stimulate 
them  with  drugs  of  any  kind.  A  legion  of  nostrums  in  the  way  of  "egg 
foods"  and  "condition  powders"  has  been  offered  poultry  keepers  from 
time  to  time.  While  there  may  be  a  small  measure  of  merit  in  some  ot 
them  all  probably  do  more  harm  than  good  in  the  long  run.  Good  general 
care,  intelligent  feeding  and  keen  observation  of  the  immediate  needs  of 
each  fowl  are  the  keynotes  of  success  in  poultry  culture.  There  are  times, 
however,  when  fowls,  young  and  old,  languish  or  lose  the  keen  edge  ot 
their  appetites  and  others  when  it  seems  advisable  to  force  egg  production 
to  the  utmost  that  simple  remedies,  between  food  and  medicine,  in  their 
effects  may  be  really  useful.  A  few  notes  on  the  best  of  these  tonics  are 
appended. 


The    Health    of    the    Hen.  109 

RED  PEPPER. — The  red  or  cayenne  pepper  of  commerce  is  made  of 
the  pungent  fruit  of  Capsicum,  or  the  common  garden  pepper  ground  to 
powder.  It  is  an  excellent  appetizer,  and  probably  the  safest  of  all  stim- 
ulants. It  may  be  given  in  mashes  or  moist  food  at  the  rate  of  one  tea- 
spoonful  to  each  two  or  more  quarts.  The  fruits  of  any  of  the  hot- 
flavored  chilies  or  garden  peppers  answer  equally  well  if  broken  up  and 
added  to  the  mash. 

TINCTURE  OF  IRON. — In  some  forms  of  weakness  associated  with 
loss  of  appetite  tincture  of  chloride  of  iron  does  good  service.  It  sliould 
be  given  in  the  drinking  water,  10  to  20  drops  to  the  quart  of  water,  given 
fresh  for  several  successive  days.  It  is  rather  caustic,  but  not  poisonous 
in  small  quantities. 

STRYCHNINE  is  a  dangerous  poison,  but  in  minute  doses  has  pow- 
erful tonic  properties.  It  is  especially  useful  in  leg  weakness  and  all  forms 
of  paralysis,  and  in  the  general  depression  following  illness.  It  is  best 
given  fowls  in  the  form  of  tincture  of  nux  vomica,  of  which  it  is  the  active 
principle.  Ten  to  15  drops  in  a  quart  of  drinking  water  may  be  safely 
given  on  alternate  days.  Nux  vomica  tincture  is  intensely  bitter,  and  the 
water  thus  prepared  is  not  relished. 

ARSENIC  is  a  powerful  tonic  and  probably  stimulates  egg  production. 
It  may  be  given  in  the  form  of  Fowler's  solution,  10  to  12  drops  in  a  quart 
of  water  once  in  three  days. Nux  vomica  tincture  and  Fowler's  solution  art 
dangerous  poisons  and  should  be  kept  where  children  and  animals  cannot 
get  at  them. 

GOLDEN  SEAL. — An  excellent  appetizer  very  little  used  is  golden 
seal  or  Hydrastis  canadensis.  It  is  harmless,  and  may  be  given  at  the 
rate  of  half  an  ounce  of  the  powdered  root  to  each  quart  of  mash.  Pow- 
dered ginger  is  also  used  in  the  same  manner. 


THE  MOULTING  HEN.— As  all  know  poultry  shed  or  cast  off  their 
feathers,  after  which  a  new  growth  appears.  This  moulting  is  an  exhaust- 
ing process,  and  the  hen  will  not,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  lay 
during  her  moult  or  for  some  time  after.  Old  hens  drop  their  feathers 
during  late  Summer  and  Fall,  and  it  is  an  advantage  to  force  the  moult 
early,  so  as  to  have  them  laying  or  at  least  in  good  condition  before  Winter 
sets  in.  Various  plans  have  been  tried  for  hurrying  the  moult.  In  some 
cases  the  feathers  are  plucked  from  the  live  hens  so  that  a  new  growth  will 
start  early.  Another  plan  often  mentioned  is  described  as  follows  by 
Mr.  G.  H.  Belding : 

"I  took  10  White  Wyandotte  yearlings  about  the  last  of  August  and 
shut  them  up  in  a  pen,  and  did  not  feed  them  for  twelve  days,  with  the 
exception  of  about  a  handful  of  grain  every  other  day.  I  gave  them  all 
the  water  they  wanted  during  these  twelve  days.    At  the  expiration  of  12 


110  The     Business     Hen. 

days  I  let  them  out,  and  commenced  feeding  a  heavy  ration,  all  they  would 
eat,  in  fact  giving  them  a  variety,  and  once  a  day  a  mash  and  also  beef  scrap 
or  animal  meal.  They  had  grass  in  the  runs.  Eight  of  them  commenced 
to  moult  in  a  very  short  time.  They  laid  on  their  new  coat  very  fast,  and 
were  laying  again  in  about  six  or  seven  weeks  from  the  time  I  began. 
These  hens  were  laying  at  the  time  the  experiment  began.  They  laid 
through  the  Winter  and  are  still  laying.  One  of  the  10  it  did  not  seem 
to  affect;  she  moulted  at  the  usual  time,  and  did  not  begin  laying  until 
towards  Spring.  The  other  did  not  moult  at  all ;  she  carried  her  old  coat 
through  the  Winter  and  moulted  this  Spring.  I  did  not  give  them  anj 
medicine  or  tonic." 


Dark  spots  are  often  noticed  in  eggs.  They  are  probably  caused  by 
the  rupture  of  small  blood  vessels  in  the  hen  before  the  egg  is  shelled. 

Bare  backs  on  hens  are  caused  by  feather  picking  or  by  the  male. 
When  hens  eat  each  other's  feathers  they  usually  pull  out  the  soft  down  at 
the  base  of  the  tail.  It  is  better  to  kill  a  confirmed  feather  puller.  This 
bad  habit  is  usually  caused  by  idleness  or  lacTc  of  meat  in  the  ration. 

The  egg  shells  may  be  crushed  fine  and  fed  to  the  hens.  When  crushed 
in  this  way  they  are  not  likely  to  cause  egg  eating. 

The  best  cure  for  egg  eating  is  to  kill  the  hen  that  is  guilty  of  it.  We 
would  do  this  except  in  the  case  of  a  valuable  bird.  By  filing  off  the  end 
of  the  beak  we  can  prevent  most  of  the  trouble. 

Leg  weakness  may  be  caused  by  rheumatism,  a  heavy  male  or  roosts 
that  are  too  high.  Rheumatism  is  often  caused  by  low  damp  quarters  or 
by  keeping  the  bird  in  a  low  coop  on  the  ground. 

A  good  hospital  for  a  sick  hen  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  flour  barrel  in 
a  nest  of  straw. 

Soft-shelled  eggs  are  mostly  caused  by  a  lack  of  lime.  Crushed  oyster 
shells  or  bone  should  be  kept  before  the  hens.  Soft  shells  are  also  due  to 
troubles  in  the  reproductive  organs,  fright  or  shock  or  to  the  presence  of 
too  many  males. 


CHAPTER     XVIII. 
The  Purebred  Business  Hen. 

F.  Q.  White,  who  has  met  with  much  success  as  a  breeder,  gives  the 
following  good  advice: 

One  of  the  questions  continually  asked  by  those  thinking  about  trying 
to  make  poultry  profitable  is:  "Would  I  not  be  just  as  successful  with 
common  fowls  as  with  purebred  or  fancy  stock?  If  not,  why?"  There  are 
several  reasons  why  it  pays  to  keep  purebred  hens.  First,  your  flock  is 
uniform,  and  you  can  give  the  feed  and  care  that  your  variety  needs. 
With  common  mixed  flocks  you  are  feeding  some  hens  fat,  while  others 
may  not  get  what  they  need.  Your  chickens  are  much  evener  if  all 
one  kind,  and  if  you  are  selling  for  broilers  to  a  fancy  trade,  you  would 
see  a  difference  between  a  crate  of  nice  purebred  Wyandottes  or  Plymouth 
Rocks  and  a  crate  of  red,  white,  blue  and  speckled  scrubs.  It  might  easily 
make  a  difference  of  two  or  three  cents  a  pound.  Now  pick  up  the  market 
quotations  and  note  the  prices  on  "fancy  selected  white"  and  the  next 
grade,  which  means  plain  "fresh  eggs."  There  you  find  a  difference  again 
of  two  or  three  cents  a  dozen.  Does  it  cost  any  more  tn  raise  these  fancy 
broilers  or  fancy  eggs?  Not  a  cent  more  after  you  get  started.  Of  course 
it  costs  more  to  get  a  start  in  any  purebred  stock  than  in  mongrels.  Care- 
ful breeders  have  been  at  work  for  years  developing  these  different 
breeds,  each  for  a  specific  purpose,  and  it  stands  to  reason  that  they  will 
fulfill  that  purpose  better  than  those  with  only  hit  or  miss  or  no  breeding. 

We  sometimes  hear  of  some  woman  who  is  making  money  from  com- 
mon hens,  but  this  only  proves  she  understands  her  business  and  would 
make  more  if  she  had  a  good  strain  of  purebred.  It  is  a  v/ell-known  fact 
that  eggs  of  different  breeds  do  not  hatch  alike,  and  some  are  much  more 
difficult  to  hatch  than  others.  One  should  take  all  these  things  into  con- 
sideration and  study  the  markets  and  their  own  likings,  for  anyone  will 
make  a  much  greater  success  with  a  breed  he  likes.  After  you  have  made 
your  selection  do  not  buy  a  male  and  try  to  grade  up  scrubs,  and  do  not 
pay  $2.5  for  a  show  trio  of  fancy  birds.  First,  get  either  a  few  settings 
or  a  hundred  or  more  eggs  of  the  breed  you  want  from  some  breeder 
you  can  rely  on  to  treat  you  fairly:  then  study  your  strain:  find  out  its 
weak  points,  and  buy  males  to  correct  those  faults.  This  is  when  you  want 
to  buy  a  Standard  and  find  what  that  breed  should  look  like  to  win  prizes. 
You  will  soon  be  proud  of  your  flock  and  you  will  want  to  show  all 
your  friends  yoTir  bird".  Tf  your  hens  are  inclined  to  be  too  short-backed 
you  should  buy  a  male  with  the  opposite  tendency.     Tf  they  are  weak  in 


112  The     Business     Hen. 

any  point  get  a  male  strong  in  that  point  to  breed  them  to.  But  do  not 
sacrifice  vigor  and  health  to  fancy  or  fads;  leave  that  to  the  showman. 
Don't  try  to  keep  more  than  one  breed ;  you  won't  know  all  there  is  to  know 
about  that  in  20  years.  It  is  more  profitable  to  be  known  as  a  good  breeder 
of  White  Leghorns,  Wyandottes  or  Plymouth  Rocks  than  it  is  to  be  able 
to  advertise  one  hundred  different  varieties  of  poultry  for  sale. 

There  is  plenty  of  money  in  poultry  if  managed  in  a  business-like 
manner.  A  dairyman  would  not  keep  Holstein  cows  for  a  fancy  butter 
trade,  nor  would  he  expect  to  get  rich  from  selling  Jersey  milk,  although 
there  are  good  butter  cows  and  good  milkers  in  both  breeds.  So  a 
poultryman  should  keep  the  breed  that  is  adapted  to  his  business ;  the 
heavy  breeds  for  market  poultry  and  the  lighter  more  active  breeds 
for  eggs.  You  will  have  hens  in  any  breed  that  do  not  pay  their  board, 
and  these  must  be  weeded  out  and  got  rid  of  by  the  "ax  process."  It  is  a 
nice  business  to  pick  them  out,  and  many  a  fine  hen  has  been  sacrificed 
because  she  was  in  such  a  ragged  and  generally  dilapidated  condition, 
due  to  her  persistent  laying.  One  trouble  with  scrubs  is  the  lack  of  type 
and  the  extreme  difficulty  of  culling  out  the  unprofitable  birds.  We 
have  all  seen  where  good  breeds  that  have  been  bred  for  years  true  to 
type  were  crossed.  The  result  was  a  reversion  and  any  old  thing.  Get 
purebred  stock ;  keep  it  pure ;  strive  to  improve  your  strain  constantly, 
and  you  will  have  a  greater  pride  in  your  flock  and  give  them  better 
care,  which  after  all  is  the  secret  of  success  in  the  poultry  business. 
Who  ever  heard  of  a  poultry  man  with  some  fine  purebred  hens  allowincr 
them  to  roo.st  on  the  rail  fence  or  over  the  pigpen?  Take  care  of  the 
hens  and  they  will  take  care  of  you. 


"PEDIGREE"  HENS.— The  "trap  nests"  mentioned  on  page  14  are 
not  popular  with  most  poultrymen,  as  they  require  much  time  and  close 
attention.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  they  can  pick  out  the  drones, 
if  they  are  operated  carefully.  At  the  Maine  Experiment  Station  over 
1,000  hens  were  tested.  Out  of  this  large  number  35  hens  were  found  that 
gave  from  200  to  251  eggs  in  a  year.  There  were  several  that  laid  only 
36  to  60  eggs  and  three  never  laid  at  all.  These  hens  were  all  selectea 
because  they  looked  like  layers  in  shape  and  size,  but  the  trap  nests  showed 
that  the  eye  cannot  be  relied  upon  entirely.  It  has  also  been  found  that 
hens  vary  in  their  laying  habits,  some  laying  regularly  month  after  month, 
while  others  lay  well  for  a  time  and  then  take  a  vacation.  These  variations 
will  be  shown  even  when  all  are  selected  close  to  a  "type." 


CHAPTER    XIX. 
Who  Should  Keep  Hens  ? 

We  have  seen  how  the  egg  is  formed,  how  it  is  hatched,  how  the  little 
chick  is  cared  for  and  how  the  hen  is  handled  so  as  to  make  her  a  busi- 
ness proposition  in  feathers.  Now,  who  should  keep  the  Business  Hen? 
Evidently  a  man  should  have  "hen  in  the  heart"  if  he  expects  Biddy  to 
fill  his  pocket.  From  what  we  have  studied  we  can  readily  see  how  much 
of  the  business  side  of  the  hen's  work  depends  upon  her  partner  man. 
Take  a  horse  that  will  trot  a  mile  in  2:10.  Probably  30  seconds  of  that 
record  is  due  to  the  man  who  trained  and  cared  for  the  horse.  Left  to 
himself,  with  his  natural  gait,  the  horse  could  not  trot  under  2  :40.  The 
cow  that  produces  an  enormous  weight  of  milk  or  butter  is  developed 
far  beyond  her  natural  flow  by  man's  skill  in  handling  and  feeding.  Just 
the  same  with  the  hen.  There  are  records  of  flocks  that  average  160 
eggs  per  year.  Handled  without  skill  or  comfort  such  flocks  would  not 
average  60  eggs.  That  is  why  we  said  at  the  beginning  that  a  man  to  suc- 
ceed with  the  Business  Hen  must  be  "half  hen'  himself.  While  some  will 
succeed  better  than  others  no  one  should  think  of  investing  money  in  the 
poultry  business  unless  he  is  willing  to  put  his  heart  into  it  and  study  the 
habits  of  the  hens.  There  is  money  in  the  poultry  business  for  those  who 
do  this. 

HENS  VS.  COWS. — To  show  how  the  hen  ranks  as  a  financier,  Geo. 
A.  Cosgrove  makes  the  following  estimate.  We  do  not  disparage  the 
value  of  good  cows,  but  we  cannot  all  be  dairymen,  and  there  is  a  larger 
surplus  of  milk  than  of  fresh  eggs : 

"A  neighbor  (as  we  call  them  in  the  country,  though  he  lives  four 
miles  away)  keeps  cows,  I  do  not  know  how  many,  but  he  told  me  boast- 
ingly  that  his  creamery  check  last  month  was  $86  and  his  bill  for  grain  $60. 
That  leaves  $26 — a  dollar  a  day — for  profit,  if  he  didn't  have  to  feed  any 
hay.  Taking  out  the  cost  of  hay  for  his  12  or  15  cows  it  would  not  leave 
a  great  deal  for  his  month's  work.  Another  farmer  who  keeps  30  cow?, 
has  a  splendid  farm,  is  a  powerful  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  a  worker, 
says  that  with  the  grain  bill  and  hired  help  there  is  not  a  dollar  in  the 
cow  business.  He  makes  his  own  butter  and  sells  it  to  private  customers  in 
a  village  six  miles  away.  Hoard's  Dairyman  tells  of  two  men  who  took 
a  'cow  census.'  In  Pennsylvania  25  farmers  who  were  patrons  of  a  cream- 
ery averaged  a  net  profit  of  $15.06  per  year  for  each  cow,  while  25  more 
made  a  profit  of  66  cents  per  cow.  In  Indiana  the  best  six  out  of  fifty 
averaged  $21  per  cow  per  year.     It  is  fair  to  assume  that  these  best  cows 


114  Tlie     Business     hi  en. 

were  worth  $45  to  $60  each.  Consequently  it  appears  that  it  takes  a  good 
cow  to  pay  an  annual  profit  equal  to  one-third  her  market  value. 

"Now  I  rise  to  say  that  if  there  is  anywhere  in  these  United  States 
any  old  dunghill,  scaly-legged,  blear-eyed,  frosted-combed,  roach-backed, 
crooked-breasted,  twisted-toed  apology  for  a  hen,  that  with  relative  good 
care  won't  pay  an  annual  profit  on  her  market  value  of  more  than  33  per 
cent  then  she  ought  to  be  exhibited  at  the  St.  Louis  Exhibition  as  the 
biggest  curiosity  in  the  show.  I  have  kept  fowls  off  and  on  for  40  years, 
in  city  and  village  back  yards,  and  for  the  last  10  years  on  a  farm,  and  I 
know  there  has  never  been  a  year  when  they  did  not  pay  me  from  200  to 
300  per  cent  on  their  market  value." 

PAID  FOR  A  FARM. — Mr.  Cosgrove  knows  what  he  is  talking  about, 
for  the  Wyandotte  hen  has  paid  for  his  home.  He  left  the  city  at  57 
years  of  aee  and  invested  all  his  savings  in  a  run-down  farm  in  a  Con- 
necticut hill  town.  There  were  80  acres  in  the  farm,  with  only  17  cleared, 
and  barely  two  acres  plowed.  So  poor  was  its  reputation  as  a  money 
earner  that  the  farm  sold  for  less  than  the  cost  of  the  buildings.  It 
should  be  added  that  Mr.  Cosgrove  is  in  poor  health,  and  has  been  un- 
able to  do  a  hard  day's  work  in  10  years.  He  has  been  oWisred  to  buy  all 
his  grain  and  figure  close  in  every  way.  Yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  serious 
drawbacks  the  Wyandotte  hens  have  paid  for  the  farm  twice  over,  and 
provided  a  good  living.  Mr.  Cosgrove  represents  one  class  of  men  who 
should  keep  hens.  No  other  stock  could  have  come  within  the  range  of  his 
powers  and  paid  for  his  farm.  He  loved  a  hen,  studied  her  needs  and  pro- 
vided for  them  so  well  that  his  400  hens  give  a  gross  income  of  over  $3 
each,  besides  giving  meat  and  eggs  for  the  family  and  fertilizer  for  the 
garden  and  fruit. 

Mr.  Cosgrove  prefers  Wyandottes  for  several  good  reasons.  They  are 
dignified  without  being  dull.  It  takes  a  young  and  lively  man  to  keep  track 
of  Leghorns.  The  Wyandottes  will  stay  quietly  inside  a  four-foot  fence. 
They  are  thickly  feathered,  and  do  not  require  such  warm  housing  as  the 
more  nervous  breeds.  Their  combs  are  small — in  fact  head  and  comb  can 
easily  be  put  under  the  wing  at  night.  Mr.  Cosgrove  says  that  if  he 
were  breeding  Leghorns  he  would  clip  off  their  combs  in  the  Fall  about  as 
Game  cocks  are  trimmed.  The  wound  would  soon  heal  and  the  bird  would 
suffer  less  from  the  cold.  Mr.  Cosgrove's  experience  shows  what  a  man 
can  do  by  selectincr  a  breed  or  family  with  a  definite  performance  ir 
view.  During  the  fearful  Winter  of  1004  his  Wyandottes  in  their  small 
and  simple  houses  laid  so  well  that  they  earned  $20  a  week  clear  of  ex- 
penses. Of  course,  people  heard  of  this  and  rightly  thought  that  the 
character  of  the  hens  was  largely  responsible  for  it.  As  they  could  not 
hire  Mr.  Cosgrove  to  come  and  manage  their  poultry  they  were  glad  to  pay 
a  good  price  for  part  of  his  skill  and  care.     Every  hen  on  his  farm  and 


IVIio     Should     Keep     Hens?  115 

every  egg  that  they  lay  will  carry  part  of  his  skill  in  the  shape  of  "pedi- 
gree," which  we  may  call  condensed  performance.  It  always  happens  that 
when  a  careful  man  develops  a  flock  of  poultry  so  that  they  can  earn  more 
than  the  average,  others  are  willing  to  pay  extra  for  the  stcck.  This  repu- 
tation helps  the  sale  of  everything  else  that  is  grown  on  the  farm. 

BREEDING  BUSINESS  HENS.— The  experience  of  C.  H.  VVyckoff, 
who  became  famous  as  a  White  Leghorn  breeder,  makes  this  point  strong- 
er. He  started  as  a  dairyman  on  a  poor  farm.  There  were  18  hens  on  the 
farm,  which  did  little  besides  scratching  up  the  garden.  Mrs.  Wyckoff 
had  these  hens  put  in  a  house  with  a  yard  and  kept  an  account  of  eggs  and 
food.  They  paid  a  profit  of  75  cents  a  hen,  and  this  gave  Mr.  Wyckoff  an 
idea  of  what  500  good  hens  would  do.  He  became  satisfied  that  White 
Leghorns  would  pay  him  better,  and  so  he  got  good  specimens  and  began 
to  study  them  and  their  needs.  His  case  was  quite  different  from  that  of 
Mr.  Cosgrove.  While  the  latter  was  an  elderly  man  in  poor  health,  Mr. 
Wyckoff  was  a  young  man,  strong  and  vigorous,  and  with  great  capacity  for 
work.  While  Mr.  Cosgrove  could  raise  no  grain,  Mr.  Wjxkoff  could  grow  a 
large  part  of  what  was  needed  on  his  farm.  I  refer  to  this  to  show  that  the 
Business  Hen  suits  all,  the  young,  the  old,  the  strong  and  the  weak,  pro- 
vided they  "love  the  hen."  Six  years  after  the  18  hens  were  put  on  record 
Mr.  Wyckoff  had  600  hens,  which  gave  him  a  yearly  income  of  $2,140,  with 
a  net  profit  of  $1,070  after  charging  labor  at  $30  a  month  and  interest  on 
investment. 

Mr.  Wyckoff  kept  his  hens  in  long  yards  or  parks,  growing  plum  or 
other  fruit  trees  therein.  This  gave  a  double  crop  and  left  the  farm  free 
for  a  rotation  of  grain,  hay  and  potatoes — the  hens  furnishing  a  good  share 
of  the  manure  required.  Mr.  Cosgrove  also  keeps  his  hens  in  yards,  but 
makes  no  effort  to  cultivate  the  remainder  of  the  farm.  Mr.  Wyckoff 
became  a  poultry  expert.  His  careful  study  of  the  hen  made  him  in  time 
one  of  the  most  capable  judges  of  Leghorns  in  the  country.  He  never 
intended  to  go  into  the  business  of  selling  eggs  for  hatching;  in  fact  he 
was  quite  annoyed  when,  after  the  story  of  his  success  was  printed  in  The 
R.  N.-Y.,  people  wanted  to  buy  eggs  and  stock.  The  hens  were  paying  well 
at  providing  eggs  for  eating  purposes,  but  this  very  fact  gave  them  an 
added  value  as  breeders,  and  Mr.  Wyckoff  found  that  his  hens  had  made 
him  famous.  Even  the  best  of  the  young  roosters,  which  were  formerly 
sold  as  broilers,  were  easily  sold  at  a  dollar  or  more  for  breeders.  This 
is  always  the  experience  of  those  who  develop  a  good  strain  of  poultry. 

THE  ENTIRE  FARM.— Thus  far  we  have  discussed  the  plan  thought 
best  by  many  of  yarding  the  hens  on  a  small  part  of  the  farm  and  leaving 
the  rest  of  the  land  idle  or  to  be  devoted  to  crop  growing.  The  reverse 
of  this  plan  is  followed  by  O.  W.  Mapes,  who  tells  us  elsewhere  about  one 
day's  wnrk.     Mr.  Mapes  has  a  pasture  farm,  rocky  and  in  places  quite  thin. 


Il6  The    Business    Hen. 

His  object  is  to  save  the  expense  of  fencing  and  the  "waiting  on  the 
hens"  that  is  necessary  when  they  are  yarded.  We  get  a  good  idea  of  his 
methods  from  his  story.  As  between  this  plan  and  those  followed  by 
Mr.  Cosgrove  and  Mr.  Wyckoff  there  are  arguments  on  both  sides. 
Mapes  saves  the  cost  of  fences,  and  in  Summer  the  hens  pick  up  nearly 
40  per  cent  of  their  ration.  One  man,  in  Summer,  can  care  for  three  times 
as  many  hens  on  this  colony  plan  as  he  can  when  all  are  yarded.  The 
great  advantage  of  the  yarding  plan  comes  in  Winter.  It  is  a  hard 
cold  job  to  travel  through  deep  snow  to  feed  the  hens  in  colony  houses. 
The  yard  plan,  with  hens  crowded  together,  is  much  better  for  the  pro- 
duction of  Winter  eggs,  which  bring  the  highest  price.  It  is  not  always 
true  that  the  egg  which  brings  the  highest  price  per  dozen  is  the  most 
profitable  egg,  for  it  may  cost  too  much  to  produce  it.  There  is  good  profit 
in  the  Summer  egg,  even  at  a  low  price.  The  colony  plan  does  not  give  as 
good  a  chance  for  selecting  and  breeding  the  best  stock  for  breeders.  In 
order  to  do  that  properly  we  must  have  some  form  of  yard  where  the 
breeders  can  be  kept  by  themselves.  Mr.  Mapes  has  been  very  succcess- 
ful  with  his  hens,  and  his  experience  adds  to  the  proof  that  a  man  who  has 
"hen  in  his  heart"  can  make  poultry  pay  under  any  circumstances,  tor 
example,  Mr.  Hayward,  of  New  Hampshire,  makes  his  hens  pay  under 
conditions  which  most  people  would  at  first  thought  say  are  impossible. 
A  brief  outline  of  Mr.  Hayward's  plan  is  given  on  page  67  with  a 
picture  of  one  of  his  little  houses.  His  9,000  hens  are  kept  in  these  little 
coops  from  the  day  they  arrive  as  pullets  till  they  are  sold  the  next  year 
as  hens.  The  pullets  are  all  bought  from  farmers,  and  are  of  no  special 
breed.  It  is  a  hen-feeding  farm,  and  the  hens  give  an  average  profit  of 
nearly  one  dollar  each  in  spite  of  their  close  confinement.  We  cannot 
advise  any  such  system  for  the  average  farmer,  but  it  shows  again  how  a 
careful  man  can  take  some  breed  of  poultry  and  adapt  it  to  any  reasonable 
condition. 

WITH  A  GARDEN.— Mr.  Hartman  tells  us  on  page  73  how  his  hens 
provide  Winter  work  on  a  truck  farm.  The  experience  of  Alfred  Johnson, 
of  New  Jersey,  shows  another  side  of  poultry  keeping.  Mr.  Johnson  was 
a  jeweler  by  trade.  His  eyes  gave  out,  and  instead  of  trying  to  find 
another  job  in  town  he  bought  18  acres  of  land  not  far  from  Paterson,  N. 
J.,  running  in  debt  for  the  place.  He  studied  his  farm,  and  finally  decided 
to  make  hens  and  strawberries  his  chief  crops,  with  such  other  vegetables 
and  fruits  as  would  go  with  them.  After  12  years  work  he  sold  in  one 
year  from  his  18  acres  $4,137.62  worth  of  produce.  The  400  hens  con- 
tributed nearly  $800  worth  of  this  in  eggs,  and  also  provided  a  good  share 
of  the  fertilizer  for  the  fruit.  Of  course,  these  hens  were  housed  and  fed 
with  great  care.  They  were  kept  clean  and  healthy.  They  are,  of  course, 
yarded  since  it  would  be  impossible  to  give  poultry  a  free  run  on  a  small 


Who    Should    Keep    Hens?  117 

fruit  farm.  After  a  time  such  yards  become  sa  foul  that  even  plowing 
and  growing  pasture  crops  will  not  relieve  them.  The  upper  surface  is 
scraped  off  and  carried  out  to  be  used  as  manure,  and  fresh  sand  is  brought 
back  to  take  its  place.  Plum  and  pear  ti"ees  are  grown  in  the  yards,  giving 
considerable  fruit.  Mr.  Johnson  makes  the  most  of  the  hen  manure  by 
mixing  it  with  chemicals.  It  is  kept  hard  and  dry  by  dusting  plaster  under 
the  perches.  Twice  a  week  the  manure  is  removed  and  carried  to  a  dry 
shed.  In  the  Spring  the  hard  chunks  are  spread  out  on  a  cement  fioor  and 
pounded  fine  with  a  maul  or  heavy  spade.  It  is  then  sifted,  the  coarse 
pieces  being  crushed  again.  Mr.  Johnson  mixes  400  pounds  of  sifted  hen 
manure,  200  pounds  dissolved  bone  black,  100  pounds  muriate  of  potash 
and  150  pounds  of  plaster,  and  has  a  fertilizer  which  gives  good  results  on 
his  heavy  and  naturally  rich  soil.  He  uses  large  quantities  of  stable 
manure  in  addition,  and  this  -should  be  remembered  by  those  who  mix 
chemicals  with  hen  manure.  For  most  garden  and  fruit  crops  it  would 
be  necessary  to  use  200  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda  with  the  other  chemicals. 
Mr.  Johnson  selected  the  Leghorn  type  of  hen  for  his  foundation  stock 
because  they  are  the  best  for  laying  large  white  eggs,  which  his  market 
demands.  He  kept  at  first  both  Whites  and  Browns.  The  latter  laid  more 
eggs  than  the  Whites,  but  the  eggs  were  small.  As  an  experiment  Mr. 
Johnson  began  crossing  the  two  breeds,  and  obtained  chicks  of  all  sorts  of 
colors.  Some  of  these  cross-bred  chicks  were  coal  black,  and  as  he  liked 
their  appearance  Mr.  Johnson  saved  the  pullets  and  bred  them  to  a  pure 
Black  Minorca  rooster.  As  a  result  he  has  developed  a  strain  of  large 
black  birds  which  are  excellent  layers.  He  has  used  a  Black  Minorca 
rooster  most  years  and  a  Brown  Leghorn  twice  without  greatly  changing 
the  type  of  his  hens.  One  flock  of  270  hens  averaged  160  eggs  per  year. 
Mr.  Johnson  had  no  desire  to  breed  purebred  poultry.  He  was  simply 
after  the  hen  that  would  lay  the  most  eggs  in  Winter,  for  he  has  little  time 
to  give  them  in  Summer.  As  is  the  case  with  all  who  develop  a  good 
flock,  these  black  hens  made  such  a  reputation  in  the  market  that  people 
wanted  eggs  for  hatching.  The  pullets  and  even  the  young  roosters  are 
in  demand  for  breeding  stock.  Strange  to  say,  Mr.  Johnson  makes  little 
use  of  incubators.  These  black  hens  will  "sit,"  but  they  are  poor  nurses, 
and  the  little  chicks  are  raised  in  brooders.  The  hens  are  marked  with 
a  toe  punch  which  makes  a  hole  on  the  web  of  the  foot.  One  mark  is 
made  for  each  year  of  the  hen's  age.  Two-year-old  hens  are  used  for 
breeders^about  fifteen  being  put  in  a  pen  with  a  lively  young  cockerel. 
Mr.  Johnson  plans  to  use  always  purebred  males.  The  three-year-old 
hens  are  fattened  and  sold,  for  Mr.  Johnson  thinks  a  hen  yields  like  a 
strawberry  plant.  The  best  production  is  in  the  first  year,  but  it  is  usually 
wise  to  fit  up  the  hen  and  the  berry  field  so  as  to  run  it  another  year. 
I  have  known  a  number  of  people  to  start  out  with  the  idea  of  imi- 


118  Till-     Business    Hen. 

tating  Mr.  Johnson's  success.  Most  of  them  failed,  and  the  reasons  for 
their  failure  were  quite  evident  to  all  but  themselves.  They  undercsti^ 
mated  their  job,  called  it  too  easy  and  thought  that  success  would  follow 
without  great  exertion  on  their  part.  Some  of  them  visited  Mr.  Johnson 
and  saw  how  quietly  and  easily  he  went  about  his  work.  I'hey  copied  his 
feeding  methods  and  his  plans  for  care,  but  they  could  not  see  that  while 
their  work  was  mechanical  a  thousand  invisible  forces  were  pulling  with 
Mr.  Johnson — things  which  he  had  gained  in  20  hard  years  of  experience. 
A  man  to  succeed  with  poultry  must  have  the  patience  of  a  sitting  hen.  In 
spite  of  all  he  can  read  or  observe,  or  all  the  advice  others  can  give 
him,  the  little  chicks  will  die  in  the  brooders.  ]\Iany  people  grow  dis- 
couraged at  this  loss,  and  quit  the  business.  Then  in  the  Fall,  when  the 
pullets  are  getting  ready  for  laying,  the  expense  for  feeding  is  enormous 
and  there  is  no  income.  It  seems  well-nigh  impossible  to  hll  up  these 
greedy  birds  and  the  beginner  who  counts  the  cost  without  seeing  the  end 
is  apt  to  grow  frightened  and  slacken  up  on  the  feeding  to  save  cost. 
He  could  not  do  a  worse  thing,  for  this  will  hold  them  back  for  weeks, 
and  lose  the  value  of  Winter  eggs.  So  the  hen  man  needs  a  trunk  full 
of  patience  and  a  bushel  of  faith,  and  we  would  not  make  the  poultry 
business  seem  "too  easy"  to  the  beginner.  Mr.  Johnson  has  succeeded. 
The  hens  helped  to  pay  for  his  home.  They  have  given  him  a  competence 
and  now,  since  the  death  of  his  wife,  carry  him  each  year  on  a  three- 
months'  excursion  to  various  parts  of  the  world. 

POULTRY  FOR  WOMEN.— I  have  heard  a  man  tell  how  he  ran  away 
from  a  small  New  England  farm  when  a  boy  because  it  seemed  impossible  to 
make  it  provide  a  simple  living.  He  went  back  20  years  later  expecting 
to  find  the  place  grown  up  to  brush— abandoned.  To  his  surprise  he 
found  the  little  farm  prospering — neat  and  clean,  with  new  buildings  and 
conveniences  in  the  house  that  he  never  heard  of  as  a  boy.  As  he  ex- 
pressed it,  this  had  been  brought  about  by  "a  hen  and  an  old  maid". 
A  woman  driven  out  of  other  employment  had  invested  her  savings  in  the 
farm.  She  had  taken  up  poultry  culture,  and  by  good  management  and 
hard  work  had  made  the  farm  pay  dividends  which  the  former  owners 
never  thought  possible.  My  friend's  combination  of  "hen  and  old  maid" 
has  great  possibilities,  though  married  women  and  young  girls  are  by 
no  means  barred.  There  are  many  ■^ases  where  women  have  met  with 
great  success  with  poultry,  though  as  a  rule  the  business  is  harder  for 
them  than  for  men.  They  do  such  work  as  hatching,  brooding  and  caring 
for  the  chicks  better  than  men.  We  r\\  know  how  as  a  last  resort  young 
stock  that  does  not  thrive  with  orainary  treatment  is  turned  over  to 
mother's  care.  The  rougher  work  of  cleaning  houses,  killing  and  dressing 
poultry,  etc.,  is  hard  for  a  woman,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  she  .should 
attempt  poultry  keeping  on  a  large  scale  without  a   stout  boy  or  man   to 


Who    Should    Keep     Hens?  119 

help  her.  On  a  farm  where  there  are  willing  helpers,  mother  and  the 
girls  will  often  make  a  great  success  with  the  farm  poultry.  There  are 
plenty  of  cases  where  such  women  have  started  with  a  poor  flock  of 
culls,  and  by  wise  selection  and  breeding  developed  a  fine  class  of  poultry 
that  paid  better  than  any  other  stock  on  the  farm.  Women  can  and  will 
try  many  things  for  the  comfort  of  stock  which  men  would  not  think 
of.  There  has  been  considerable  discussion  as  to  whether  it  pays  to 
provide  artificial  heat  for  Kens.  We  may  give  here  the  experience  of 
Zimmer  Bros,  who  live  in  Cayuga  Co.,  New  York,  a  cold  section. 

"We  have  one  poultry  house,  30x60,  which  is  divided  into  12  pens 
and  has  an  alley  through  the  center  of  the  house.  We  use  a  lint  water 
heater  and  pipe  system  for  heating  it  at  a  cost  of  $100  for  the  heating 
system.  Last  Winter  we  used  one  ton  of  coal  to  keep  this  building 
at  a  temperature  of  35  to  40.  We  let  the  fire  out  when  a  thaw  was 
on,  and  only  ran  it  when  the  thermometer  came  to  the  freezing  point 
inside  the  building,  which  was  about  half  the  time.  This  building  is  used 
for  a  brooder  house  during  the  Spring  months,  and  this  is  when  we  get 
full  value  from  our  heating  system  by  using  the  hot  water  pipes  for 
brooders.  We  have  another  house,  20x50,  divided  into  six  pens  with  a 
stove  in  one  end,  and  the  smoke  pipe  running  the  whole  length  of  house. 
One  ton  of  coal  has  run  this  stove  during  the  past  cold  Winter,  keeping 
the  inside  temperature  above  freezing.  Both  these  houses  are  lined, 
which  makes  the  coal  bill  small,  but  when  we  build  again  we  shall  not 
line  the  house,  because  the  lining  is  of  no  use  except  during  two  or 
three  cold  months,  and  the  interest  on  the  cost  of  lining  will  buy  enough 
coal  to  keep  the  house  from  freezing,  and  we  have  severe  Winters  in 
this   section." 

The  farm  women  can  often  do  much  to  interest  the  boys  in  good 
poultry.  Really  a  good  flock  of  hens  is  better  for  a  farmer's  boy  than  a 
colt  or  calf.  The  hens  will  keep  him  busyj  give  money  returns  quicker 
and  furnish  more  novelty.  Where  a  woman  can  interest  the  boys  and  get 
them  to  help  her  care  for  the  hens  we  have  one  of  the  best  combinations 
that  can  be  made  on  a  farm. 


CHAPTER    XX. 
Odds  and  Ends. 

How  much  cut  bone  should  be  fed? 

It  depends  upon  what  you  feed  with  it.  With  corn  alone  or  for  most  of 
the  ration  one  ounce  per  hen  each  day  will  be  safe.  Less  if  meat  or  linseed 
is  used  in  the  mash. 

How  long  should  hens  be  kept  for  layers  ? 

Depends  upon  the  hen.  Some  hens  will  lay  profitably  at  four  years 
old.  others  are  of  little  use  after  the  second  season.  The  majority  of 
poultrymen  sell  ordinary  hens  when  2^  years  old. 

Will  hens  continue  to  lay  when  no  male  bird  is  kept  with  them? 

Yes;  better  than  when  a  crowd  of  surplus  roosters  are  kept.  We  would 
keep  no  rooster  except  with  the  breeding  hens. 

Will  infertile  eggs  keep  longer  than  fertile  ones? 

Yes,  in  warm  weather  or  in  places  where  the  eggs  are  heated.  In  cool 
weather  there  is  little  difference. 

How  long  after  the  male  is  placed  with  the  hens  will  the  eggs  become 
fertile? 

Cases  are  on  record  where  eggs  laid  40  hours  after  the  male  was  intro- 
duced hatched  healthy  chicks.  The  surest  results  are  obtained  after  six  or 
seven  days. 

How  long  after  the  male  is  taken  away  will  the  eggs  remain  fertile  ? 

In  some  cases  eggs  laid  two  weeks  after  the  male  was  removed  have 
hatched.  We  must  remember  that  hens  vary  greatly  in  this  respect. 
Some  rarely,  if  ever,  lay  eggs  that  will  hatch,  while  others  lay  a  large 
proportion  of  hatchable  eggs:  After  a  hen  has  been  laying  for  a  long  time 
the  eggs  are  less  likely  to  be  fertile  than  earlier  in  the  season.  The  male 
pays  greater  attention  to  some  hens  than  to  others.  This  is  one  reason 
why  the  system  of  double  males   (page  27)  pays. 

How  can  we  prevent  fertile  eggs  from  hatching  and  not  injure  them 
for  sale? 

Shake  or  jar  the  egg.  Hold  it  in  the  right  hand  and  strike  at  the  other 
hand  so  as  to  shock  the  egg  without  breaking  the  shell.  This  breaks  up 
the  delicate  membranes  inside  the  egg  and  destroys  its  life. 

Does  a  Leghorn  hen  ever  become  broody? 

Yes,  but  few  will  sit  through  the  period  of  incubation.  They  are  so. 
nervous  that  a  little  handling  will  break  them  of  the  desire.  Few  pure 
Leghorns  are  safe  mothers. 


Odds  and  Ends.  121 

HEN  PASTURE. — Where  there  is  land  enough  it  pays  to  have  parti- 
tions in  the  chicken  yard  so  as  to  give  pasture  for  the  hens.  A  crop  of 
Crimson  clover  in  the  Spring  will  provide  60  per  cent  of  the  hen's  food 
while  it  lasts.  Rape  is  excellent  for  hen  feed,  and  a  patch  of  it  may  be 
ready  when  the  clover  is  done.  Another  small  patch  of  oats  may  follow 
this,  and  the  place  where  the  Crimson  clover  grew  may  be  sown  to  cow 
peas.  After  the  oats  are  done  this  patch  may  be  seeded  to  Crimson  clover 
and  turnips,  thus  keeping  up  a  succession  of  green  food. 

DOUBLE  CHICKEN  YARDS.— Our  henhouses  are  built  so  that  they 
open  into  two  large  yards.  The  family  garden  is  alternated  back  and  forth 
between  them.  This  year  the  hens  run  in  what  was  last  year's  garden ; 
next  year  they  will  be  put  where  the  garden  is  now.  This  plan  is  a  good 
one  where  there  is  space  enough  for  a  large  yard.  The  droppings  of  the 
hens  are  utilized  and  the  soil  is  cleaned  up  and  purified  by  cropping.  On 
most  of  the  garden  soil  it  is  possible  to  follow  the  last  crop  with  Crimson 
clover  or  rye,  which  make  good  Spring  pasture  for  the  hens.  These 
chicken  yards  are  long  and  narrow.  We  find  that  it  pays  to  go  in  with 
a  horse  and  small  plow  frequently  and  turn  the  soil  over.  This  gives  the 
hens  an  abundance  of  worms  and  helps  fit  the  ground  for  next  year's 
garden. 

CATCHING  HENS. — The  two  devices  shown  herewith  are  useful 
to  save  chasing  a  hen  and  running  her  down.  The  upper  one  is  like  a 
small-sized     shepherd's     crook — a 

wooden  handle  with   a  bent  wire  «=; =^=====, 

attached.  This  wire  can  be  reached 
out  to  catch  the  hen  by  the  leg 
and  hold  her.  The  other  is  a 
good-sized  fisherman's  hand  net 
with  a  long  handle.  With  a  little 
practice  it  becomes  easy  to  catch  the  hen  in  this  net. 

POULTRY  AS  INSECTICIDES.— Poultry  eat  large  quantities  of 
insects  when  permitted  free  range.  They  are  particularly  fond  of  earth- 
worms, grasshoppers  and  the  like.  We  have  never  known  hens  to  eat 
Squash  bugs,  or  Potato  beetles,  though' there  are  reports  from  good  authori- 
ties that  they  have  done  so.  We  once  kept  a  large  flock  of  hens  and 
chicks  in  a  potato  field,  after  the  plants  were  about  six  inches  high.  They 
certainly  ate  many  of  the  egg  clusters  of  the  Potato  beetle,  but,  so  far 
as  we  could  see,  none  of  the  hatched  insects.  We  have  kept  chickens  in 
a  cornfield  with  very  good  results.  A  well-known  method  of  fighting  the 
Asparagus  beetle  and  the  Onion  maggot  is  to  scatter  coops  with  hens  and 
young  chickens  over  the  field.  In  an  orchard  poultry  consume  many  injuri- 
ous insects,  and  greatly  help  the  trees.  Ducks  are  perhaps  the  best  insect- 
killers   of  all    domestic   poultry.     It   is   reported   on   good   authority   that 


122  The    Business    Hen. 

they  will  eat  Potato  beetles,  Army  worms  and  even  chinch  bugs.  In 
tobacco  and  cotton  fields  overrun  with  grass  geese  have  been  used  to 
help  weed  the  crop.  They  will  eat  a  fair  share  of  the  grass  and  leave  tht 
cotton  and  tobacco. 

TRAINING  AN  EGG  EATER.— A  man  sees  an  empty  orange  crate 
in  the  village  store,  and  says  to  the  grocer:  "Give  me  that,  will  you?  It's 
just  what  I  want  for  a  couple  of  hen's  nests."  He  takes  it  home  and  nails 
it  up  in  the  henhouse,  putting  two  inches  or  so  of  straw  in  the  bottom. 
The  hens  like  that  nest  and  lay  six  or  eight  eggs  in  it;  the  ne.xt  hen  that 
jumps  down  into  the  nest  is  a  heavy  one,  and  her  toe  smashes  an  egg.  As 
she  turns  to  cuddle  the  eggs  under  her  she  sees  the  most  delicious  morsel 
that  a  hen  has  ever  tasted,  plunges  her  beak  into  it  and  greedily  sucks  it 
up ;  then  eats  the  shell  and  begins  to  scratch  to  get  the  last  particle  of  it, 
throwing  the  eggs  against  the  side  of  the  box  and  perhaps  breaking 
another,  which  is  also  eaten.  Next  day  she  goes  to  scratching  again  in 
the  nest,  remembering  what  a  treat  she  found  there,  and  breaks  another 
egg,  and  now  your  confirmed  egg  eater  is  formed.  The  remedy,  in  the 
case  of  that  hen,  is  to  cut  off  her  head.  But  prevention  is  much  better; 
have  no  nest  that  a  hen  has  to  jump  down  into.  Fill  all  nests  to  within  four 
inches  of  top,  so  the  hens  can  step  from  the  edge  into  the  nest,  and  the 
liability  of  having  egg  eaters  in  the  flock  will  be  very  much  lessened. 

POULTRY  PESTS. — Hawks  capture  many  chicks.  A  good  marksman 
can  kill  a  few  and  hang  them  on  poles  about  the  yards.  A  southern 
remedy  is  to  mix  strychnine  in  molasses  and  rub  a  little  on  the  top  of 
each  small  chicken.  The  hawk  is  supposed  to  poison  himself  while  eating 
the  chick !  Guinea  hens  alarm  the  neighborhood  when  hawks  are  near. 
The  best  remedy  is  to  keep  the  little  chicks  in  covered  runs  until  they 
are  large  enough  to  run  for  shelter.  It  is  well  to  have  low-growing  shrubs 
about  where  the  chicks  can  hide.  Cats  have  caused  us  great  damage, 
which  we  have  mostly  avoided  by  keeping  the  little  birds  in  covered  yards. 
If  pigs  run  in  the  field  with  the  chicks  they  must  be  carefully  watched.  If 
a  pig  once  gets  a  taste  of  chicken  he  will  chase  the  birds  constantly.  Rats 
and  larger  wild  animals,  like  minks,  are  sworn  enemies  of  little  chicks. 
They  can  only  be  kept  out  of  the  brooders  by  making  them  rat-proof,  lifted 
above  the  ground  with  no  chance  for  the  rat  to  climb.  Cement  floors  and 
stone  foundations  are  particularly  useful  in  poultry  houses,  because  the 
rats  cannot  work  into  them.  In  some  cases  rats  congregate  in  the  barn  in 
great  numbers,  and  cats  and  traps  are  powerless  to  keep  them  down.  In 
such  cases  poisons  are  used.  A  cake  made  of  cornmeal  and  bran,  with 
a  quantity  of  white  arsenic  mixed  in,  is  baked  much  the  same  as  a  biscuit, 
and  crumbs  of  it  are  scattered  about  the  building.  It  usually  does  the 
business,  but  the  hens  must  be  shut  up  and  the  cats  and  other  domestic 
animals  kept  away  from  the  barn  while  this  poison  is  about. 


Odds    and    Ends.  123 

POULTRY  MANURE.— Some  people  have  extravagant  ideas  about  the 
value  of  hen  manure,  calling  it  worth  as  much  as  Peruvian  guano.  It  has 
no  such  value,  as  a  little  thought  will  show.  The  manure  which  forms 
the  guano  comes  from  birds  that  live  mostly  on  fish  and  meat.  The  bodies 
of  dead  birds  are  also  mixed  with  it.  The  hen  lives  mostly  on  grain  or 
food  that  other  farm  stock  eat,  and  we  can  easily  see  there  can  be  no  fer- 
tilizing value  to  the  manure  except  what  comes  from  the  food.  An  average 
sample  of  hen  manure  without  too  much  litter  or  sand  in  it  is  worth  about 
four  times  as  much  as  an  equal  weight  of  cow  manure.  This  is  because 
the  excrement  from  the  kidneys  is  passed  with  the  solids,  while  with 
other  farm  animals  it  is  separated  and  largely  lost.  Hen  manure  contains 
a  large  proportion  of  nitrogen,  and,  if  used  alone,  gives  best  satisfaction  on 
crops  that  make  most  of  their  growth  above  ground,  like  corn,  cabbage  or 
vegetables.  Where  there  is  but  a  small  quantity  it  can  be  kept  in  barrels, 
spread  in  the  Spring  and  worked  into  the  garden  soil.  On  large  poultry 
farms  it  is  often  successfully  used  for  mixing  with  chemicals  to  make  a  fer- 
tilizer. Plaster  or  acid  phosphate  alone  or  mixed  with  sawdust  is  sprinkled 
under  the  perches  so  as  to  keep  the  manure  dry  and  free  from  fermentation. 
.\s  often  as  need  be  it  is  raked  off  the  platform  and  stored  in  a  dry 
shed.  In  the  Spring  it  will  be  found  in  dry  hard  lumps,  which  are  crushed 
as  fine  as  possible,  usually  by  beating  them  on  a  hard  floor  with  heavy 
shovels.  The  following  mixture  gives  good  results  for  many  crops :  1,000 
pounds  sifted  hen  manure,  500  pounds  acid  phosphate,  200  pounds  muriate 
of  potash  and  300  pounds  of  fine  ground  bone.  Do  not  use  lime  under  the 
roosts  nor  mix  it  with  the  manure  long  before  it  is  put  into  the  soil,  for 
the  lime  starts  a  chemical  action  which  sets  free  the  ammonia.  The  plaster 
or  the  acid  phosphate  may  be  used  under  the  roosts,  because  they  stop 
this  escape  of  ammonia.  Hen  manure  and  wood  ashes  may  be  put  to- 
gether in  the  soil,  but  should  not  be  mixed  and  left  above  ground.  The 
custom  followed  by  many  farmers  of  putting  a  handful  of  pure  hen 
manure  in  and  around  each  hill  of  corn  is  a  good  one,  for  such  manure  is 
especially  useful  for  corn. 

PRESERVING  EGGS.— It  is  often  desirable  to  carry  eggs  through 
several  months  or  a  year.  Most  hens  persist  in  laying  most  of  their  eggs 
through  Spring  and  early  Summ.er.  In  late  Summer  and  Winter  eggs 
are  scarce  and  high  in  price.  If  one  can  take  eggs  worth  15  cents  a  dozen 
and  hold  them  so  that  they  will  be  fresh  and  good  when  the  price  is 
40  cents  he  has  a  good  business  proposition.  In  the  large  cities  this  is 
done  by  putting  the  eggs  in  cold  storage,  but  this  is  impossible  on  the 
farm.  Formerly  such  eggs  were  kept  fairly  well  in  lime  water,  but  this 
gave  a  brittle  shell  and  many  of  the  eggs  were  "musty."  The  most 
practical  way  of  preserving  eggs  is  to  keep  them  dipped  in  a  solution  of 
water  glass  or  silicate  of  soda.     This  water  glass  can  be  bought  at  mo^t 


124  The    Business    Hen. 

drug  stores  or  from  large  manufacturers.  To  use  it  the  solution  is  placed 
in  a  wooden  or  stoneware  vessel,  and  nine  times  the  quantity  of  fresh 
pure  water  poured  in.  The  eggs  are  placed  in  the  liquid  when  gathered, 
as  fresh  as  possible,  only  allowing  them  to  cool  off.  Put  in  as  many  eggs 
as  the  solution  will  cover.  Cover  with  a  lid  to  retard  evaporation  and  keep 
out  dust.  Store  in  a  cool  cellar  until  wanted  for  use.  The  eggs  should 
keep  perfectly  at  least  one  year.  The  eggs  must  be  sound  and  fresh  when 
placed  in  the  solution— it  will  not  restore  stale  or  spoiled  specimens.  One 
pound  of  water  glass  properly  diluted  will  cover  about  14  dozens  of  eggs. 
We  have  used  the  same  solution  two  years  in  succession  with  good  re- 
sults, but  it  is  probably  best  to  start  each  season  with  a  fresh  supply. 
The  only  change  to  be  noted  in  eggs  preserved  one  year  in  a  10-per-cent 
solution  is  that  the  white  or  albumen  is  rather  more  watery  than  in  per- 
fectly fresh  eggs.  They  closely  resemble  new-laid  eggs  in  appearance 
and  quality  after  being  rinsed  and  dried  off.  They  are  useful  for  all 
culinary  purposes  except  boiling  in  the  shell,  as  they  are  likely  to  crack  if 
heated  too  suddenly  and  the  interior  does  not  look  quite  as  inviting  when 
opened.  Repeated  trials  have  since  convinced  us  that  these  eggs  keep 
well  for  two  weeks  after  coming  out  of  the  solution  if  stored  in  a  cool 
place,  and  are  even  better  for  some  purposes,  as  the  white  becomes  less 
watery.  This  does  not  warrant  offering  water-glassed  eggs  as  fresh,  how- 
ever. They  are  preserved  eggs,  and  should  be  so  called  if  offered  for  sale. 
As  a  household  economy  for  the  storage  of  eggs  when  cheap  and  plenti- 
ful the  water-glass  process  is  to  be  heartily  commended.  With  a  stock  of 
well-preserved  eggs  packed  in  April  and  May  available  for  family  use 
during  the  succeeding  cold  months  the  farmer  or  poultry  keeper  is  at 
liberty  to  sell  his  Winter  product  as  laid.  This  method  is  for  home  con- 
sumption and  not  for  eggs  to  be  sold  as  "fresh." 

A  FAMILY  FLOCK.— H.  H.  Boardman,  of  Connecticut,  says:  "For 
about  30  years  I  have  kept  small  flocks  of  Black  Spanish,  Brahmas,  White 
and  Brown  Leghorns,  Plymouth  Rocks,  and  White  Wyandottes.  For  value 
I  would  reverse  the  order  of  above  list.  The  Plymouth  Rocks  are  fine 
fowls.  As  Winter  layers  they  are  only  excelled  by  White  Wyandottes, 
and  that  but  slightly.  But  they  have  some  defects.  They  are  too  large.  T 
had  a  yearling  cockerel  weighing  11^)4  pounds;  a  couple  of  two-year-old 
hens  10  pounds  each.  My  friend  the  butcher  prefers  those  of  six  to  eight 
pounds.  They  sell  better,  he  says.  Their  single  combs  in  extremely  cold 
weather  often  becomes  frostbitten,  which  stops  their  laying.  Finally,  they 
are  the  only  breed  with  me  that  have  been  troubled  with  rheumatism, 
where  the  others  under  like  conditions  have  not  been  at  all  affected.  The 
White  Wyandottes,  while  not  perfect,  seem  to  combine  more  good  qualities 
than  any  breed  I  have  tried.  Averaging  five  to  eight  pounds,  they  seem 
to  be  about  the   right  weight    for  the  table.     For   laying,   however,  best 


Odds    and    Ends.  125 

results  come  from  pullets — 65  to  70  per  cent  for  December,  January  and 
February.  Two-year-old  hens,  on  account  of  late  moulting  and  early  cold 
weather,  dropped  this  past  Winter  to  10  or  15  per  cent,  which  is  much 
smaller  than  previous  years,  so  it  would  seem  to  be  more  profitable  to  keep 
more  pullets  and  fewer  old  hens.  Another  difficulty  I  find  in  propagating ; 
chickens  that  get  out  of  the  shell  are  hardy  and  healthy,  but  percentage 
is  small,  25  to  50  per  cent.  Eggs  from  pullets  seem  to  hatch  much  better 
than  from  two-year-old  hens.  Perhaps  the  redundancy  of  eggs  during  the 
Winter  months  causes  weakness  and  thus  impairs  reproductive  qualities  of 
the  eggs.  This  year  breeding  from  pullets  gave  65  chicks  from  12  sittings ; 
last  year  breeding  from  two-year-old  hens,  25  chicks  from  nine  sittings. 
There  has  been  much  complaint  about  poor  hatching  of  Wyandotte  eggs. 

"In  feeding  chicks  after  first  few  days,  I  give  cracked  corn  and  wheat 
early  in  the  morning,  mash  of  middlings  and  cracked  corn  about  nine 
o'clock,  wetted  with  skim-milk ;  corn  and  wheat  again  at  noon ;  more  mash 
about  three;  more  corn  and  wheat  jnst  before  sundown.  Fresh  water,  a 
little  fresh  meat,  grass  or  green  food  go  without  saying.  Others  may 
have  a  better  system,  but  I  find  chicks  thrive  on  this,  and  seldom  lose  one 
unless  by  accident. 

"I  have  two  houses  for  hens  with  about  one-eighth  acre  yard  to  each. 
No.  1  house,  7  x  12,  walls  of  matched  boards,  ceiling  and  walls  lathed  and 
plastered,  one  window  facing  south  and  one  west.  No.  2  house,  9  x  16. 
v/alls  of  matched  boards,  unlined,  four  windows  facing  south,  that  side 
being  practically  all  glass ;  cost  to  build  about  two-thirds  that  of  No.  1. 
Both  houses  are  without  floors,  the  earth  bottom  being  covered  with  litter 
and  location  dry.  Winter  of  1902-3  10  two-year-old  hens  in  No.  1  house 
laid  in  December,  January  and  February  441  eggs,  44.01  per  hen.  Same 
months  of  1903-4  18  two-year-old  hens  in  No.  1  house  laid  160  eggs,  8.99 
per  hen.  This  great  disparity  may  be  attributed  to  late  moulting,  early 
cold  weather,  and  too  many  hens  in  narrow  quarters.  Other  conditions 
were  substantially  the  same.  In  house  No.  2,  in  December,  January  and 
February,  1902-3,  19  May  pullets  laid  1,030  eggs,  54.2  per  hen.  Same 
months  of  1903-4  13  May  pullets  laid  651  eggs,  50.1  per  pullet.  Two  of 
the  coldest  days  of  Winter,  January  4  and  5,  when  the  temperature  dropped 
to  33  degrees  below  zero  here,  the  13  pullets  laid  19  eggs.  When  the 
temperature  was  20  degrees  or  above  the  doors  of  both  houses  remained 
open  during  the  day,  and  hens  came  outside  most  of  the  day  when  the 
ground  was  bare.  Warm  mash  was  composed  of  wheat  middlings,  cracked 
corn,  ground  beef  scraps,  ground  oyster  shells,  moistened  with  skim-milk 
and  hot  water  in  the  morning.  A'dd  once  or  twice  a  week  a  little  powdered 
charcoal  and  cut  bone.  At  noon  give  a  little  of  the  mash  with  remnants 
from  the  table ;  nt  night  whole  corn,  wheat  and  oats ;  cabbage  and  cut 
clover  occasionally." 


>ibrary 
1^.  ^      "ate  College 


INDEX 


Bantam   Breeding. 

Barns  for  Hens .  . 

Breeds,   American. 

Asiatics    .... 


Crossing    

Mediterranean  . 
Breeders,  Care  of .  .  . 
Breeding  to  Type ... 
Broiiers,   Coop   of .  .  . 

"Squab"     

Brooder,    Homemade. 

Houses    

Brooders,   Clean.  ..  .  . 


Cliiciien   Bread 43 

Coops    41 

Yards,   Double 121 

Chick,   Baby,   Care  of 40 

Chicks,  Helping  Out  of  Shell 34 

How  Mapes  Feeds 44 

Cholera    10b 

Cockerels,  Keep  Separate 46 

Cold    Storage 81 

Colony  Plan 68,  69,  70,  71,  72 

Crate  for  Live  Poultry 8a 

Disease   Prevention 98 

Diseases,    Hereditary 98 

Drinking  Fountain 68 

Ducks    96,  97 

Egg  Eater,  Training. 

How  Made 

Packages    

Parts  of   

Parents  of 

Sex  of  

Shipment,    Regular. 


What    is' 

Eggs,  Fancy  Market  for 

Forms  of 23,  24. 

From  Table  Scraps 

Incubator   Testing 

Preserving    

Uniform  for  Hatching 

Feeding,  Correct 

Devices    

Various  Methods  of 

60,  61,  62 

Fence,  Wire 

Flock,  Family 

Scrub,    Improving 

Floor   Materials 

Food  Stuffs,  Analysis  of 

Foods,  Muscle-making  Needed.  .  . 


,  6» 
100 

124 
11 
55 
.59 
6!5 

104 
93 


Hen.    Broody 29 

Broody,   Breaking  Up 32 

Catching    121 

Cosgrove's     114 

Dust    Box 55 


Gapes   

Guinea    Fowl . 


PAGE. 

Hen   House,   Warming 53 

For    Hatching 30 

House    Interiors 51,  52 

House,  Old,  Repairing 12 

House,    Sanitary    99 

House,  Essentials  For 49 

Johnson's    117 

Non-Sitters     5 

On  Truck  Farm 116 

Pasture    121 

Pedigree    U2 

Scrub    10 

Should  Lay  Young 45 

Sitting,  How  Cosgrove  Han- 
dles      30 

Vs.    Cows 113 

WyckofE's    115 

Young,  Care  of 45 

Incubation,  What  Is 29 

Incubators,    Handling     32 

Influenza    99 

Kerosene    Emulsion 107 

Layer,    Selecting ' 13 

Leghorns,   Brown 6 

White    6 

Lice    105 

Lime  and  Sulphur  Wash 108 

Mangels  as  Peed 43 

Market   Gardener's   Hens.  . .  73,  74,  75 

Marketing  Poultry  Products....  83 

Meat  Sbop.   .Jewish 84 

Minorcas,    Black 6 

Moulting,     Hastening 109 

Nests,    Trap 14 

Pedigree 13 

Pigeons  and  Squabs 94 

Plymouth  Rock,  Origin  of 6 

Special  Features  of 7 

I'oultry  as   Insect  Killers 121 

For    Women 118 

Killing   86 

Manure    123 

Pests    ...' 122 

I'urebred,  Advantage  of....  Ill 

Ration,  Balanceo 58 

Maintenance 66 

Rhode  Island  Red 6 

Roost,    Swinging 50 

Roosts,  Best  Form  of 56 

Roosters,  How  Many  for  Flock.  .  27 

Roup    101 

Scaly    Leg 104 

Scratching  Shed  Arrangement.  . .  53 

Selection,  C,  H.  WyckofC  on 13 

Shell  and  Grit  Box 50 

Surgical    Treatment 105 

Tonics     108 

Turkeys,  Care  of 95 

Wyandotte,  White,  Value  of 8 

Yards,  Treatment  of 101 


